The fingers of a hand need not fight each other. Space and distance need not separate. Fingers can be together without space, and fingers can be spread out with some apparent space; but that space is not really what divides them from each other. They actually are each other.
Similarly, all of us life forms are part of the same organism or being. The distance need not separate. However, too many of us look with separation and fragmentation. Too many of us perceive in the way we were programmed to perceive. Compassion exists when false separation and false division are absent. Then real, supreme intelligence may occur.
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
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Thank you, Denise!
Very profound! 😎
Much appreciated, M.T.! 😊
You’re very welcome! Awesome work always my brother! ❤💯
This really resonates. I love the way you compare fingers on a hand to life forms—it’s such a simple yet profound reminder that separation is often an illusion. When we see beyond it, compassion and true understanding naturally arise. Thank you for sharing this perspective; it really makes me pause and reflect. Also, love the image. I love butterflies!
Thank you! Once, a good while ago, i showed Tweetie, one of my pet parrots, my fingers together and then apart, and said to her that we are all one and not really separate (just like the fingers). Believe it or not, she then said, “You are right!” 😊
Wow 🤯
Muy hermosa!! Great capture Tom!
Thank you, Marcela!
Profound and picturesque are my thoughts about this post Tom. This Swallowtail is perfectly poised on the Red Clover. Not too many more shots like this left in 2025 as we are experiencing such cooler conditions these days (thankfully).
Thank you, Linda! Though i will miss a lot of the warmer-weather critters, this cooler weather is a welcome change to that stifling heat that we experienced so much of in summer. A lot of the insane smoke from burning seems to be dissipating too, thank goodness. (I’ve got plenty of shots from the warmer weather that i can still post, fortunately.)
I usually have more pictures from Summer too, but luckily I have some pics from 2024 walks that I haven’t used. I always want to ensure I have enough photos for twice-weekly postings. There are always “Stirring the Memory Pot” postings as well to fill in the gaps.
In this age of multitudes of disease-carrying ticks and mentally deranged crazies, it’s prudent to use more pics from the past. 😉
Yes, I walked and walked last year in the Summer of 2024, but it was hot and humid then too, but not the sickening heat and humidity we dealt with this year. Now we’ve had a West Nile Virus death and someone ill with EEE, another mosquito-borne illness. Then there are the ticks. It’s not worth it. I am glad I have enough pics from 2024 and a bright spot … my Park where I walked all the time and interacted with the squirrels – it still looks very bad after they tore up the shoreline on one side of the Park, destroying the habitats of the squirrels and birds in doing so. At Memorial Day this year I saw one squirrel and no birds and they had construction going on, installing huge cement sewer pipes, so I stopped going and didn’t return until August 29th, some 95 days later. I’ve seen eight squirrels, so some improvement, but not the 30-40 each day that I used to see. One day I hope it is normal again, but this is not a deep-woods park, no tic and mosquito worries here, so I hope I’ll have my ace-in-the-hole back again. I actually took my camera there yesterday for the first time since Winter.