"Lucky Star" by Bodhi Smith

Jan 06, 2023

"lucky star" is my new impression and blog...found this beautiful raw image file while looking through my older archives for unique pictures to edit--this newly edited image and my words here are solemnly dedicated to my dearly departed best friend, The Dude, my lucky star...though it's been four years since he passed, he is still with me every single day...

"he said bye-bye

he had to fly

to be my light

in the dark of night

gone away so high

up up into the sky

showing me the way

each and every day

he is always there

where i know where

gone away not far

shining my lucky star"

― bodhi, lucky star

"i'm so thankful and blessed to have so many memories like this to look back on as i move forward in this brand new year with its new beginnings..." ― bodhi, lucky star

"being my lucky star, The Dude shines brightly on me, and he comes at night when i can see him clearly" ― bodhi, lucky star

"a beloved pet's devotion is never lost. their pure love will always live on through the eternity of stars and sands of time" ― bodhi, lucky star

"lucky star give me all i need when i'm down and out and i've lost my way. through the hardest nights and the darkest days, lucky star won't you help me light the way. because i'm wishing on you" ― robin thicke, lucky star.

"you must be my lucky star because you make the darkness seem so far. and when i'm lost you'll be my guide. i just turn around and you're by my side" ― madonna, lucky star.

"you may be my lucky star, but i'm the luckiest by far" ― madonna, lucky star.

"you do what you can on the edge of the milky way...just remember there's no rewind and no replay...gonna thank my lucky stars, thank you stars." ― jimmy buffett, lucky stars.

"he was one of those happily created beings who please without effort, make friends everywhere, and take life so gracefully and easily that less fortunate souls are tempted to believe that such are born under a lucky star" ― louisa may alcott, little women

"you can see how i'm grateful, fortunate, and blessed...truly "lucky" to have what i have, live the way i do, and be alive" ― bodhi, lucky star

"as we all embrace this new year upon us, we should thank our lucky stars for having this chance at new beginnings" ― bodhi, lucky stars

"with every breath that we take, sometimes we forget how lucky we are to just be alive...everything else is secondary...sometimes we must stop in the middle of everything and just breathe, and be thankful for that breath of life. sometimes we all need to be reminded and truly remember that living is a gift and should be cherished" ― bodhi, lucky star

released recently a little over a year ago in 2021, here's a perfect tune to go along with my photo and blog today, not only does it have the same title as my impression, but it also has deeply meaningful lyrics..."lucky star" by robin thicke. ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...lucky star make my dreams come true. play your part. i said i'm counting on you lucky star. paint my gray skies blue. see my heart and what i'm going through. when i'm down and out and i've lost my way. through the hardest nights and the darkest days. oh lucky star won't you help me light the way. lucky star don't you hide from me. play your part, set my spirit free. lucky star help me on my feet. see my heart, give me all i need when i'm down and out and i've lost my way. through the hardest nights and the darkest days, lucky star won't you help me light the way. don't give up (oh). don't you let me lose my faith. i won't give up (ooh). all i need is a little of your love. lucky star make my dreams come true. save my heart because i'm wishing, i'm wishing on you. wishing, wishing on you, ooh, because i'm wishing, wishing on you" ― robin thicke, lucky star.

"live in your own universe of love, reach out for your one lucky star, grasp it with all its glowing essence, simultaneously touching and embracing love and light" ― bodhi, lucky star

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MEANING

"never travel faster than your lucky star can fly" ― bodhi, lucky star

"lucky star" is defined by merriam-webster as "a person or thing that brings one aid, good fortune, or good blessings"...and "thanking your lucky stars" is an idiom with the meaning of "being grateful for what you have"...the meaning of my impression is clear to me from these two definitions...i'm truly grateful to have gotten the time i spent with The Dude, and i thank my lucky stars for him choosing me that first day we met because he brought me good fortune, happiness, love and blessings, and The Dude still remains my lucky star to this day...

as i welcome this new year and all the blessings of being alive, healthy, and having the means to travel the world, i thank my lucky stars for all the great memories i carry in my heart of all the wonderful things i've gotten to experience...especially getting to spend 15 years with a soul i consider to be my lucky star, The Dude, forever in the heavens watching over me and Besos as we walk our paths of adventure together, much the same as i did all those years with The Dude...

pictured here in my photograph is my dear old best friend, The Dude, and we're enjoying our time together on the soft eureka sand dunes in death valley national park, together under the starry skies on a cool and breezy spring night in the california desert almost eleven years ago in 2012...i'm so thankful and blessed to have so many memories like this to look back on as i move forward in this brand new year with its new beginnings...

"like the stars above, Dude's winking and smiling, so carefree and happy, enjoying each moment and just loving life...such a wonderful role model, god do i miss him so..." ― bodhi, lucky star

i miss The Dude every day since he left us, travelling over the rainbow bridge back in may of 2018...but a beloved pet's devotion is never lost. their pure love will always live on through the eternity of stars and sands of time...i carry The Dude with me in my heart every day, i carry his heart in my heart...

there's so many things i could say about The Dude, here are but only a few...the dude loved to play, always had a toy in his mouth it seemed...he also had an uncanny knack of finding tennis balls seemingly out of thin air...The Dude also loved to smile, he had an infectious smile that warmed every heart that ever got to see his smile...and he loved food, he loved to eat any type of meat, and wolf it down as fast as he could...The Dude was my teacher, he taught me how to care for another being unconditionally...he also loved to love people, he never cared much for, or paid much attention to other dogs, but he loved people and giving and getting their affections...The Dude is such a sweet soul, such a beautiful soul, what a friend, and trailmate on hikes, and copilot in the jeep or xterra through 44 states, countless mountain peaks, slot canyons, beaches, rivers, lakes, water falls, snow drifts, sand dunes, sweeping vistas, cities, parks, starry skies...what a highlight to my life, my true role model, the person i hope to be like one day when i grow up...

"sometimes there's a dog. i won't say a hero, 'cause what's a hero? sometimes there's a dog, and i'm talkin' about the dude here, sometimes there's a dog, well, he's the dog for his time and place. he fits right in there, and that's The Dude" ― bodhi, the dude--modified from the words of the Coen Brothers from the movie The Big Lebowski

The Dude would have been 19 years old last month, happy birthday my friend! to you, Dude, wherever you are, undoubtedly playing with your tennis ball and gobbling down medium-rare tri-tip steaks...and even though now i have my new best friend Besos in my life to make me laugh and to be at my side in adventures, i will always miss you my dear buddy...

"simply spoken, The Dude was simply love..." ― bodhi, lucky star

i'm constantly reminded of The Dude in all the pictures i took of him throughout the years, especially when they come up in memories on facebook and in google photos...plus he comes to me sometimes in the actions of Besos, at times when i'm sure he's being possessed by The Dude, those times out of the blue when Besos does something totally "dude-esque"...and of course, when i look up to the stars, i always see The Dude looking back at me, my guardian angel, my lucky star...

"although someone dear to our heart leaves us, they still live on inside us, and in the stars and heavens above us" ― bodhi, lucky star

this song by the mega pop icon of the 20th century, madonna (from close to 40 years ago in 1983)...not only does this tune have the exact same name as the title of my picture today, but it carries the same sentiments of love and admiration as i have for the dude built into its lyrics...it's absolutely the most perfect tune to go along with the deeper meaning of my impression and blog today... "lucky star" by madonna. ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"you must be my lucky star, because you shine on me wherever you are. i just think of you and i start to glow and i need your light, and baby you know. starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight. starlight, star bright, make everything alright. starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight, starlight, star bright, yeah!...you must be my lucky star because you make the darkness seem so far. and when i'm lost you'll be my guide. i just turn around and you're by my side. starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight. starlight, star bright, make everything alright. starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight. starlight, star bright, yeah!...c'mon, shine your heavenly body tonight, because i know you're gonna make everything alright. um, c'mon, shine your heavenly body tonight, because i know you're gonna make everything alright...you may be my lucky star, but i'm the luckiest by far...starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight. starlight, star bright, make everything alright. starlight, star bright, first star i see tonight. starlight, star bright, yeah!,,,c'mon, shine your heavenly body tonight, because i know you're gonna make everything alright. um, c'mon, shine your heavenly body tonight, because i know you're gonna make everything alright...you may be my lucky star, but i'm the luckiest by far. what you do to me, baby? you may be my lucky star, you know? but i'm the luckiest by far. starlight, star bright, baby. starlight, star bright, stay by my side tonight. what you do to me, baby?" ― madonna, lucky star.

"i thank my lucky stars for

being alive. with

each breath i take, i know

nothing is guaranteed, not even

my next breath. i'm so

grateful for what i have. and so

thankful of those lucky stars for

guiding me, showing me so

much love, showing me how

love surrounds me everywhere, if

i only open my eyes to see it, and

my heart to feel it"

― bodhi, lucky stars

"buddha is famous for saying, "embrace nothing, nothing is worth holding on to", and even though i'm a buddhist, i emphatically disagree with this statement...sometimes, the universe sends you a sign in the form of an angel, a soul worth holding on to for as long as humanly possible" ― bodhi, lucky star

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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING

from the year before the millennium in 1999, and here's yet one more truly great song to go along with impression and blog today ..."lucky stars" by jimmy buffett. ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"woke up just the other day, fell out of bed and my dog ran away. the car won't start and the weather was cold and gray. i got stuck in a traffic jam, my major meeting didn't go as i planned. looks like it's gonna be another one of those days...but i got a roof over my head, someone to love me in a four poster bed, and i can play this here guitar, i thank my lucky stars...politicians speak and it makes me ill. people are dying just for a thrill. maybe it's just evolution gone astray. the climate's too hot, music's gotten cold. i've been living like a health nut, but i still grow old. you do what you can on the edge of the milky way...i got a roof over my head, someone to love me in a four poster bed, and i can play this here guitar, i thank my lucky stars...wrapped up in the problems of the day, just remember there's no rewind and no replay. don't you worry because it ain't gonna fix a thing. woke up just the other day, thought that maybe i'd be okay. because the story i've been getting ain't written anywhere....i got a roof over my head, someone to love me in a four poster bed, and i can play this here guitar, i thank my lucky stars...but i got a roof over my head, someone to love me in a four poster bed, and i can play this here guitar, i thank my lucky stars...gonna thank my lucky stars, thank you stars." ― jimmy buffett, lucky stars.

"be grateful. because you are alive, everything is possible" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha

"everything is a gift. the degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefullness, and gratefullness is a measure of our aliveness" ― lao tzu, tao te ching

"every day, think as you wake up, today i am fortunate to be alive, i have a precious human life, i am not going to waste it. i am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. i am going to have kind thoughts towards others, i am not going to get angry or think badly about others. i am going to benefit others as much as i can" ― dalai lama xiv, the art of happiness

"i am the luckiest man alive, for i know one thing, and that is that i know nothing" ― plato, the republic

"those who love much, do much and accomplish much, and whatever is done with love is done well.... love is the best and noblest thing in the human heart, especially when it is tested by life as gold is tested by fire. happy is he who has loved much, and although he may have wavered and doubted, he has kept that divine spark alive and returned to what was in the beginning and ever shall be...if only one keeps loving faithfully what is truly worth loving and does not squander one's love on trivial and insignificant and meaningless things then one will gradually obtain more light and grow stronger" ― vincent van gogh

"i feel lucky. i can hear you whispering my name to the stars, your voice moving through the trees; your echo in the twilight calling to me. i can feel your hands tangled with mine in the ether and your laughter on the breeze. i can feel your body against mine and the way my heart skips a beat when you look at me with those eyes...when i say i want to be naked with you, i mean stripped down, vulnerable, raw, wide open bare to the core. the kind that can’t be undressed in seconds and hidden back away when the passion is waning. it lingers and lasts unable to close again shattering all walls and barriers into dust...like this love, it is ever unfolding, petal by petal, layer by layer; in a sweet sensual dance of mind, body, heart and soul....so when i say i want to be naked with you, i mean i want to feel into the unknown depths of you and know the swirling shadows and light that dwell there. i want to be alive with you. i want to see all of you. i want to be naked with your whole being" ― c. ara campbell (with additions by bodhinku)

"just being alive is such a gift, but nobody ever told you to be thankful to existence. you need to thank your lucky stars that you are alive and embrace your life with everything" ― osho, the responsibility of being oneself

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)"

― e. e. cummings

"the journey to a thousand stars is not too far a journey in the quest to have true love abiding in a pure heart" ― c. joybell c.

"here’s why i’m a fan of thanking our lucky stars every day: it helps with forgiving yourself your failures; it cuts down on the ego and boosts humility; and, perhaps most important, it makes us more compassionate" ― a.j. jacobs, thanks a thousand

"i was thinking about how i thank my lucky stars every day that i ended up here… right here, right now" ― mia sheridan, archer's voice

"you're half a world away
but in my mind i whisper every single word you say
and before you sleep at night
you pray to me your lucky star, your singing satellite"

― justine suissa

"we’re only here for a short while. and i think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. in some ways, this is getting far afield. i mean, we are, as far as we know, the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. we could even be the universe’s form of consciousness. we might have come along so that the universe could look at itself. i don’t know that, but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, or that floats around in space. but we’re combined in such a way that we can describe what it’s like to be alive, to be witnesses. most of our experience is that of being a witness. we see and hear and smell other things. i think being alive is responding" anything" ― mark strand, almost invisible poems

"some moment happens in your life that you say yes right up to the roots of your hair, that makes it worth having been born just to have happen. laughing with somebody till the tears run down your cheeks. waking up to the first snow. being in bed with somebody you love...whether you thank god for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life. if you turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to business as usual, it may lose you the ball game. if you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may save your soul" ― frederick buechner

"you must be my lucky star, because you shine on me wherever you are. i just think of you and i start to glow and i need your light, and baby you know" ― madonna, lucky star.

"this being human is a guest house. every morning is a new arrival. a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor...welcome and entertain them all. treat each guest honorably. the dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide of love from beyond" ― jalaluddin rumi, hush don't say anything to god

"if you look around and see nothing but darkness, maybe you are the lucky star" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi

"you've come to know the fortunate and the inauspicious stars, but you don't know whether you yourself are fortunate or lucky" ― jalaluddin rumi

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ABOUT THIS IMPRESSION

"when i look up to the stars, i always see The Dude looking back at me, my guardian angel, my lucky star" ― bodhi, lucky star

this impression was captured on the eureka sand dunes over 10 years ago on april 4th of 2012...such a beautifully remote place that often boasts having the highest sand dune in north america. it falls within the boundaries of death valley national park, but it not part of the actually "death valley" as it is part of the eureka valley which is to the north and west, closer to big pine and the eastern sierra than death valley...

this composition is comprised of two separate exposures taken at the eureka sand dunes...one short exposure of the sand dunes and the dude just after sunset at 7:37pm (f/8@15mm for 1/60sec, iso-100)... merged with a long exposure of the stars, jupiter, and the clouds taken afterwards (f'/2.8@15mm for 15 secs, iso-3200)...

in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and balance the light in my composition in-camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter in my completed impressions...

to get the effects and balance i was looking for in the dunes and dude part of this composition (f/8@15mm for 1/60sec, iso-100), i used one progreyusa filter. along with the progrey g-150z titan holder and adapter. to secure this filter to my nikon d800 with a nikon nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens....a 0.9 gnd progrey titan filter. to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the much brighter light in the sky, the post-dusk light, an extra three stops and help permit details in the shadows of the windblown dunes in the foreground as well as the details in dude's face and fur to come out better in the exposure...

for the separate exposure of the stars, no filters were necessary, so none were used...

wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my induro phq3 series 5-way panhead with an induro (now benro) stealth carbon fiber tripod. in combination with the progreyusa filters. which i use with every photo i take...

"please send me an angel, so i can see life though the stars of heaven's eyes" ― bodhi, lucky star

"you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you?" ― bodhi, blessed

"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhi, if

"i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses" ― bodhi, into my photo

"my photography is my way of keeping a diary " ― bodhi, my diary

"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty, content to be completely incomplete. stop the rush. slow down time. breathe and notice. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this higher moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colours of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhi, my world

leave you today wishing that bright joy

and spiritual peace fill your life...

imploring you to make every moment count,

no matter what, always and forever,

for that is the only thing that truly matters...

and above all else,

i hope this message and impression find you well.

namaste,

bodhi

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please visit me at:

http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.instagram.com/bodhi.impressions
http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi.Impressions

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