"My Sunshine" by Bodhi Smith

Oct 27, 2023

 
you are
my one star
to brighten my day
even when skies are gray
or the sun's gone away
both day and night
a smiling delight
oh sunshine
of mine
 
 
MY THOUGHTS
Remember my friend, sunshine is the most precious gold found on Earth! ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
The sunflower is "My Sunshine"...meant to brighten my day even when skies are gray, or at night when the sun's gone away. But getting a sunrise over a sunflower, is it even possible to have anything more cheery and uplifting than that in the morning? I have to smile, and my soul is uplifted. It's impossible not to be in a higher mood...remember my friends, sunshine is the most precious gold found on Earth!
 
Like the sun, sunflowers brighten our days with their infectiously happy personalities. And sunflowers are all about the sun, everything about them is associated with the sun...
 
When you look at a sunflower, it's like seeing the sun personified incarnate on earth ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
The sunflower truly lives up to its name, having such a strong likeness to a hand-drawn sun, with its colorful petals like flames coming off its round seed stocked orb in the center...the sunflower is real sunshine incarnate, giving beautiful flowing hues and beams of warming light you can touch, hold, and adore...
 
Sunflowers worship the sun, they are faithful and dedicated to follow the sun across the sky every day of their life. Many people do not know that sunflowers turn to face east when the sun disappears at night. They literally go to sleep from sundown to dawn, just waiting for the sun to reappear, waiting until the sun rises the next day so they can turn to rise with it…
 
A sunflower is the total of all the sunshine it can absorb ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
Then during the day, young sunflowers are heliotropes, meaning that their face tracks to turn with the sun so that they are always facing it throughout the day (full grown sunflowers do not turn anymore, just continually face east)...Because of this natural phenomenon, the sunflower has become a symbol of devotion and loyalty. In Buddhism, sunflowers are considered sacred and represent spiritual enlightenment. Their ability to turn towards the sun is seen as a metaphor for the human quest for enlightenment and self-realization. In their various stages of decay, these flowers also remind us of the cycle of life and death...
 
The sunflower reminds us to look on the brighter side of life. Maybe it is true for you that life is a bummer right now...but look at what you have right now, not what you do not have...you are alive, you are breathing...so breathe in, and breath out, and deeply enjoy those breaths, and be thankful you have what many people did not get to wake up and experience today: life and living!!
 
When the sun shines on you, life is good. But when the sun does not shine on you, life is still good ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
So what do you have to look forward to right now? Look at the sunflower and be reminded, you have everything, just cherish the sound of sunshine falling down, and the glowing smells of nature on the breeze, and all the colorful graces your body gets to feel. Know you are alive, embrace it. Enjoy the simple basic fundamental of not being dead. Love what you have right now, live your best day today, and tomorrow will be better, I guarantee it...
 
Look at the sunflower again. Look at its shape, with such vibrant yellows and oranges flowing out from its center, a sunflower can brighten any day. It's as if it's smiling like a happy face painted on the sun. A creation meant to make you smile and feel better no matter what. So if you do only one thing all day, let it be to smile, so you can brighten the day of others around you, just like the sunflower!
 
If I had a wish that I could wish for you, I'd make a wish for sunshine for all the while...Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost all the time makes me high ― John Denver, Sunshine On My Shoulders
 
Close your eyes. Breathe, exhale. Listen to the sound of sunshine falling down. Feel its golden silence. Absorb all its warmth. Know life is good. Open your eyes. Smile, it's a beautiful day ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
 
This tune is the perfect piece of music to accompany by impression today in every shape and form...and just about everyone knows and has heard this song "You Are My Sunshine"...Since being first written in 1939 by Jimmy Davis (or Oliver Hood in 1933, depending on your source), this famous tune has been covered more times than just about any other song in history, it's now been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages...my two favorite renditions of this classical song are by Johnny Cash in 1989, and then thirty years later by Chrisitna Perri in 2019... "You Are My Sunshine" by Christina Perri (Jimmy Davis lyrics). ...and... "You Are My Sunshine" by Johnny Cash (Jimmy Davis lyrics). ... (just click on the blue links to listen to any of the songs)

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know, dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away
The other night, dear
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you
In my arms
When I awoke, dear
I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know, dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away
 
 
 
SOME MORE SUNSHINE MUSIC
​And what better song to include in my blog today for meaning than a song about sunshine and love​. A song as beautiful as any love song ever written​... "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver. ... (just click on any of ​the words in the powder blue links to listen to the song)...
 
​Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. 
​Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. 
​Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. 
​Sunshine almost always makes me high. 
​If ​I had a day that ​I could give you. 
​I'd give to you the day just like today. 
​If I had a song that ​I could sing for you, 
​I'd sing a song to make you feel this way...
​Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. 
​Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. 
​Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. 
​Sunshine almost always makes me high...
​If ​I had a tale that ​I could tell you, 
​I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile. 
​If ​I had a wish that ​I could wish for you, 
​I'd make a wish for sunshine for all the while...
​Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. 
​Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. 
​Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. 
​Sunshine almost all the time makes me high. 
​Sunshine...almost always​ makes me high 
 
 
​Here is another tune...this song is very upbeat and happy​...I always find myself connecting with the music of ​The ​Beatles. ​And that positivity reflects the message of the song with the message of my impression, quite perfectly matching it. ​And this classical song from the 1960s manages at the same time to bring you good vibes while listening to it as you view my picture here, as they both speak volumes about hope and faith in the beauty of life, and in new ​mornings, new beginnings...​I like to listen to this song at the start of the new ​day as a great mood boost filled with hope of a refreshing new beginning: "Here ​Comes the ​Sun" by ​The ​Beatle​s. ....and here too is a really great reggae cover as well to give a listen if you choose: "​"Here ​Comes the ​Sun" by ​Peter ​Tos​h (The Beatles cover). ... (just click on any of ​the words in the blue links to listen to the song)...
 
​Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, 
​Here comes the sun, and ​I say it's all right. ​
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter. ​
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. ​
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, 
​Here comes the sun, and ​I say it's all right...
​Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces. 
​Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here...
​Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, 
​Here comes the sun, and ​I say it's all right...
​Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. 
​Sun, sun, sun,​ here it comes. 
​Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. 
​Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. 
​Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 
​Little darling, ​I feel that ice is slowly melting. 
​Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear. 
​Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, 
​Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right. 
​Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, 
​Here comes the sun. 
​It's all right. 
​It's all right 
 
 
​Here is ​yet another perfect song to​ go along with my impression here today ...​Perfect lyrics to add to the feeling, meaning, and impression ​which ​I ​truly hope you gain for my photo today... "Sound of ​Sunshine" by ​Michael ​Franti and ​Spearhea​d.​...​This is beautiful music with ​wonderfully meaningful lyrics to ​parallel my impression ​of this sunflower. It's an upbeat reggae tune with a melody that adds a ​lovely ambiance as you continue to read the rest of my blog today...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the any song in this entire blog) 
 
(one, two three)...
​I wake up in the morning and it's 6 o'clock. 
​They say there may be rain but the sun is hot. 
​I wish ​I had some time just to kill today, 
​And ​I wish ​I had a dime for every bill ​I had to pay. 
​Some days you lose​, you win, 
​And the water's as high as the times your in. 
​So i jump back into where ​I learn to swim. 
​Try to keep my head above it as best ​I can. 
​That's why; here ​I am, 
​Just waiting for this storm to pass me by. 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down...
(aye, aye, ayee hey...) 
​I saw my friend ​Bobby he said, 
"​What's up man? ​You gotta little work or a twenty to lend?" 
​I opened up my hand, 
​He said i'm glad to see, 
​They can take away my job but not my friends you see. 
​And here ​I am just waiting for this storm to pass me by. 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down, 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down...
(here we go)...
​I want to go where the sun will never end 
​With my guitar on the beach, ​there with all my friends 
​The sun​'s so hot and the waves in motion 
​And everything smells like suntan lotion, 
​The ocean, and my girl's so sweet...
​So kick off your shoes and relax your feet. 
​They say that miracles are never ceasin', 
​And every single soul needs a little releasin' 
​The stereo bumpin' till the sun goes down, 
​And i only want to hear that sound...
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down, 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down...
​And now say you're the one ​I want to be with, 
​When the sun goes down.
​You're the one i want to be with, 
​When the sun goes down...
​Sing; you're the one ​I want to be with, 
​When the sun goes down. 
​You're the one i want to be with, 
​When the sun goes down, 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down, 
​And that's the sound of sunshine coming down 
(aye, aye aye, ha, aye aye)
 
 
And here​'s more music you can listen to as you finish reading my blog. ​This is another ​beautiful love song..."Sunshine​ of My Life" by ​Stevie Wonder with Lani Groves.​ ...

​You are the sunshine of my life
​That's why ​I'll always be around
​You are the apple of my eye
​Forever you'll stay in my heart
​I feel like this is the beginning
​Though ​I've loved you for a million years
​And if ​I thought our love was ending
​I'd find myself drowning in my own tears
​You are the sunshine of my life
​That's why iI'll always stay around
​You are the apple of my eye
​Forever you'll stay in my heart
​You must have known that I was lonely
​Because you came to my rescue
​And ​I know that this must be heaven
​How could so much love be inside of you?
​You are the sunshine of my life, yeah
​That's why ​I'll always stay around
​You are the apple of my eye
​Forever you'll stay in my heart
...​Love has joined us
...​Love has joined us
...​Let's think sweet love
 
 
​And here​'s more music you can listen to as you finish reading my blog. ​This is another favorite reggae tune of mine​ about sunshine, "Sunshine" by ​Matisyah​u.​ ...
 
​Keep on moving till the first rays of dawn. 
​Keeping it on till the day is done. 
​Morning till the night time blaze is on. 
​All along ​I keep singing my song. 
​I said, this phase is always, 
​Sometimes ​I get so crazed. 
​But just know that I'll always stay. 
​Because you're my light through the haze. 
​It's time for a champion, ​
Soothe the soul of the land. 
​Mend the heart from the sea and the sand 
​Until the sun comes up again, 
​It's time for a champion, 
​Soothe the soul of the land, 
​Mend the heart from the sea and the sand 
​Until the sun comes up again. 
​Reach for the sky, 
​Keep your eye on the prize. 
​Forever in my mind. 
​Be my golden sunshine. 
​It's raining in your mind, 
​So push them clouds aside. 
​Forever by my side, 
​You're my golden sunshine. 
​When the sun sets, ​
I let myself down. 
​Found the ground beneath my feet gone. 
​No more words were there to speak. 
​On that day my song was born. 
​Never meant to leave you all alone. 
​Said ​I'd be your shelter from the storm, 
​Now your clothes have all been torn. 
​Kingdom sacked attacked and dethroned. 
​It's time for a champion, 
​Soothe the soul of the land. 
​Mend the heart from the sea and the sand 
​Until the sun comes up again...
​It's time for a champion, 
​Soothe the soul of the land. 
​Mend the heart from the sea and the sand 
​Until the sun comes up again. 
​Reach for the sky. 
​Keep your eye on the prize 
​Forever in my mind. 
​Be my golden sunshine. 
​It's raining in your mind, 
​So push them clouds aside, 
​Forever by my side. 
​You're my golden sunshine. 
​It's the way of the world. 
​You're on your own. 
​Time to grow and be a man. 
​Want to fly high like ​Peter ​Pan. 
​No more never never land. 
​So lose your backpack filled with sand. 
​Come along and take my hand. 
​We'll walk together for forever. 
​Reach for the sky. 
​Keep your eye on the prize 
​Forever in my mind. 
​Be my golden sunshine. ​
It's raining in your mind, 
​So push them clouds aside. 
​Forever by my side, 
​You're my golden sunshine...
​Walk with me now, 
​Talk with me now, baby 
 
 
 
SOME GUSHY BODHI LOVE QUOTES ABOUT SUNSHINE
You're like sunshine on my skin. You make me glow. you give me color. You warm me. you bring out the heat in me...and, you melt me ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
You are my sunshine. Without you in my life, my world would always like night, it would be so much colder, so dark and colorless...I'd be living in a black and white picture where all the sunflowers have closed up ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
morning sky, destiny
so cloudless and blue as
far as the eye can see
you're the sound of 
sunshine coming down on 
me through and through,
just knowing you're here
such love fills this boy
all i know and ever knew
beaming with the only joy
i know without a doubt
i can feel what is certainty,
glowing inside and out because 
i'm soaking in all of you, and
i'm filling up with all of you
 
You are the sunshine of my life, the glowing ray of hope coming through the window each morning, letting me know I'm alive. I breathe in your love and exhale my joy ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
You and me on the beach, playing in the waves and warm sunshine of our life together. A little boy and a little girl, with none the worry in the world, except where we're gonna build our next sand castle, and when we are gonna have that next kiss, giggle and a smile ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
The sun rises and lights up the bedroom. A beam of sunshine is flickering across her heavenly breasts, making them shimmer, standing out, in a golden glow of life...the sheer art in details of such beauty catches my eye, and I find it so arousing and sexy, so sensual and stimulating. I know where i want to be, and I find myself jealous of that ray of light ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
Since time began, people have equated sunshine with positivity and happiness, the idea of a brighter day being better. Until now, I never gave it much thought, but now I know why...You are my sunshine. You are my brighter day. With my sunshine, I'm happy. You warm me with all the love in the world. What more is there? ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
walking on sunshine
together you and i
feeling the warmth on our faces
sharing loving embraces 
hand in hand 
towards the sunshine
towards happy moments 
towards loving memories.
walking in sunshine
glowing in love.
little boy with a sunflower
little girl with a pocket full of sunshine.
 
Sunflowers are heliotropic, which means they naturally turn towards the sunshine. And like the sunflower, I am heliotropic, because you are my sunshine ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
 
 
SOME MORE APROPOS QUOTES ABOUT SUNSHINE
The sunflower is mine, in a way ― Vincent Van Gogh
 
The sun shines not on us, but in us ― John Muir
 
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire...
Clearly I'm not needed,
Yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value 
 
i will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness 
 
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. ― Helen Keller

Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it ― Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor's Handbook
 
Give me the splendid, silent sun with all her beams full-dazzling ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
 
We must remember that the sun is a star, but not all the stars are the sun ― Munia Khan
 
Insecure people only eclipse your sun because they’re jealous of your daylight and tired of their dark, starless nights ― Shannon L. Alder
 
The sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light while it's here is up to us. Journey wisely ― Alexandra Elle
 
The sun is patient. The sun is kind. The sun always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. The sun never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the sun, three things will endure: Faith, Hope, and Love ― Jim Butcher, Blood Rites
 
I need you, my fairytale. Because you are the only person I can talk with about the shade of a cloud, about the song of a thought...and about how, when today, I looked a tall sunflower in the face, it smiled at me with all of its seeds ― Vladimir Nabokov, Letters to Vera
 
I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me that's because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun, but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. and such a lesson in life ― Helen Mirren
 
Come with me
into the field of sunflowers.
Their faces are burnished disks, their dry spines

creak like ship masts,
their green leaves,
so heavy and many,
fill all day with the sticky

sugars of the sun.
Come with me
to visit the sunflowers,
they are shy

but want to be friends;
they have wonderful stories
of when they were young--
the important weather,

the wandering crows.
Don't be afraid
to ask them questions!
Their bright faces,

which follows the sun,
will listen, and all
those rows of seeds--
each one a new life!--

Hope for a deeper acquaintance;
each of them, though it stands
in a crowd of many,
like a separate universe,

is lonely, the long work
of turning their lives
into a celebration
is not easy. Come

and let us talk with those modest faces,
the simple garments of leaves,
the coarse roots in the earth
so uprightly burning.
 
Do you know why we have the sunflowers? It’s not because Vincent Van Gogh suffered. It’s because Vincent Van Gogh had a brother who loved him. Through all the pain, he had a tether, a connection to the world. and that is the focus of the story we need...connection ― Hannah Gadsby
 
What is it with you and sunflowers he asks?
I point to the field of yellow outside...
Sunflowers worship the sun, I tell him.
Only when the sun arrives, do they rise...
When the sun leaves,
they bow their heads in mourning.
That is what the sun does to those flowers...
It's what you do to me 
 
As long as the sun’s shining, shit can’t be that bad ― J. Lynn, Wait for You 
 
And still, after all this time, the sun has never said to the earth, "You owe Me."  Look what happens with love like that, it lights up the sky ― Jalaluddin Rumi, Hush Don't Say Anything To God 
 
I want your sun to reach my raindrops, so your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud ― Jalaluddin Rumi, In the Arms of the Beloved
 
 
 
SPECIFICS ABOUT THIS PHOTO
A sunflower can brighten any day. It's as if it's smiling like a happy face painted on the sun. A creation meant to make you smile and feel better no matter what. So if you do only one thing all day, let it be to smile, so you can brighten the day of others around you, just like the sunflower! ― Bodhi, My Sunshine
 
This lovely sunflower can be found at my home which is on a hill in Fallbrook, California...image was captured about 10 minutes after sunrise on October 14th, 2023 at 7:03am PST ...
 
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...
 
And to get the effects and balance I was looking for in this composition, I used two ProgreyUSA Filters. along with the ProgreyUSA G-120Z Antarctic Magnetic Holder. to secure this filter to my Nikon D850 with a Nikon Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. ... 
 
Camera Settings for the Sunflower at Sunrise: 
ISO-64, 70mm at f/2.8 for 4 seconds using a ProgreyUSA 0.9GND Aurora Filter. to bring down the sky 3 stops and help darken the bright post sunrise glowing clouds and light, creating a better in-camera balance in the overall image composition with the much darker out of focus hills in the middle-ground...along with a ProgreyUSA 3.0ND Antarctic Magnetic Filter. to stop down the image 10 stops and permit for the longer 4 second exposure which helps to soften the clouds in the sky, while at the same time helping to naturally saturate all of the red, green, and yellow hues in the picture...
 
I 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...
 
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
 
you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you? ― bodhi, blessed
 
I 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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