WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4
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In the ongoing dance between mystery and consciousness, words from a time of ecstatic interior journeying and inspiration, plus 33 thirty-three experimental photos.
"When I first encountered the writings of Master Matsuo Basho (nearly 40 years ago now), I was immediately moved by a poetic quality he had that I would later come to think upon as “culturally-informed bioregional biophilia”: a love of place and the Nature-Spirit of that place. I suspect many of you are bioregional biophiliaists as well, whether or not you are creatively-inclined. In that regard, I would like to recommend a new book in the wider genre of the love of place and Nature by Nirvan Hope, Words and Photos: Little Enchantments, Volume 1. Thirty-three photographic images from the mountains, forests, and beaches of the Northwest Pacific, with accompanying written reflections that inspire contemplation." HAWK OF THE PINES, Poet.
Available in Paperback on Amazon:
Love and the Infinite
Travel beyond the page into a world of beauty, curiosity, and imagination through 33 images and words to entertain, entice, and enchant. Aha moments, tiny recipes for contemplation, and little-known facts encourage the reader to pay attention to encounters in the natural world, witness, listen, and respond with awakened senses to the wisdom of nature. Photos and words to inspire conversations across the borders of nature, curiosity, and the imaginal realm.
"I wept at the pure beauty of the words and photographs." "I will enjoy keeping the books out and turning to any page at any moment and diving in." "...truly attuned and deeply immersed in nature."
33 photos with accompanying words all inspired by the rich natural world of the Pacific Northwest - forests, mountains, ocean, animals and plants.
"This is a delightful little coffee table book, with wonderful photos and insightful words. What a pleasure to peruse, admire, and read ." A
"A wonderful tapestry of reflections written in various very satisfying styles, from poetry and prose to snapshots of moments, it is a memoir of a life where the journey spans various landscapes including Africa and England, and heart-mind states of ever-deepening wisdom. A bejeweled thread weaves all of the sections together - an unspoken sacred question I sometimes refer to as 'Quest-I-On'. Nirvan's quest and well-traveled heart-eye will enrich your own." FRANK LARUE OWEN, author of The School of Soft Attention.
Praise for Wandering at Salt Creek: "...filled with words of joy, wonder, and insight combined with fine photos taken by the author...a treasure that I will enjoy revisiting for inspiration.”
“…such presence and observation of detail…pleasingly aesthetic”
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“I just enjoyed the end of volume one. Superb. Graceful. Clear as the sun.” TC, Videographer
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All books available on AMAZON from links or images.
PRAISE FOR WORDS AND PHOTOS: LITTLE ENCHANTMENTS Vol 1,2, 3 and 4
“I love, love, love your book! It is beautiful in every way ... the look and feel, the size, and your off-the-charts photos and really enjoyable-to-read words.” GRACE WELKER, Writer.
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THERE MIGHT BE DAYS 2: A Mash-Up of Diverse Wanderings
"thought provoking...exotic and fascinating." "Every so often I'd pause and chuckle, chuckle some more and dive back in."
"... a delight, highlighting the flow of waters, seasons, nature and life itself in beautiful photos and well-chosen words."
“…beautiful writing and I enjoy how the accompanying photos (beautiful in their own right) coincide so well with the text.” NEIL MARCUS, Photographer
“…light-headed from the impact of eloquence, humor, humility, awareness of your/our place in the scheme of things, and unapologetic realness! Bravo!” ALICE DURRIE, Artist.
Travel through "WORDS AND PHOTOS: Place" to environments Nirvan has loved in Northwest Washington State. Thirty-three images of nature, accompanied by words, encourage both inner and outer wandering on your own personal journey. Aha moments and tiny recipes for contemplation accompany stops along the way as you stroll or hike through the pages, perhaps awakening memories of your own visits to wild rivers or mountains, or awakening the desire to experience all that nature has to offer, wherever you live. Here are photos and words to inspire your own conversations within the borderless places and possibilities between wild country and the imaginal realm.
33 images of a bird or two or more, plus words to entertain.
"delightful and light-hearted" "this book is a little gem"
"...awesome, breathtaking photography, delightful poetry and insightful observations. I smile as I turn each page,
feeling at one with nature. Simply put, BIRDS is inspiring, enlightening, and educational."
“…my sisters and nieces will treasure this; it is both beautiful and insightful. I think this is a best seller!” NETTIE HARPER, Teacher
TRIP BACK: Windows to the Past, a selection of seventeen both brief, and extended, memoir pieces, follows Nirvan Hope's outer life from a childhood in Gibraltar, England and Nigeria, to memories of Morocco, Greece, New York, India, Oregon, New Mexico, Peru, Washington State, Utah, Arizona, south England, Wales and Australia. Her inner world journey of self-discovery examines a family history of race, suicide, LGB and abandonment., from which she moves forward with energetic optimism to deeper/higher experiences of self-awareness, leading to greater understanding and maturity.
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"Nirvan's book is an elegant search through deep and ancient questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? What ties weave us all together? As she folds through the fabric of her past, her words bring a shiver down my back as they poignantly reveal the whys and hows of her own life, thereby bringing to light the greater human search for meaning. Her book is a brilliant testament to humanity, love and the life force in us all. Let it sweep you up into the journey with her." KIRSTEN SCHOWALTER, author of In My Own Skin.
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Nirvan invites the reader to wander beyond the page through days of inner and outer experience with thirty-three short prose poems accompanied by thirty-three images chosen from her extensive library of nature photographs taken around the Pacific Northwest. This collection of personal musings, gleaned over several years, hopes to inspire the reader’s own reflections as the words shift through a variety of contemplative moods, nuance, and revelations from dark to light.
PRAISE FOR WORDS AND PHOTOS: PLACE
A mini-coffee-table-book, 33 images with 33 pieces of writing, with a theme of relationships in nature with whimsical, musical moments of couples’ duets.
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How does headstrong Ria plan to heal a family tragedy? - She leaves home for a nine month journey of discovery. In her travels from the New Mexico desert to the California Bay Area and then a ghost town in the Idaho mountains she encounters a spicy cast of people fascinating and wild as the year of cultural revolution in which the novel is set: 1968.
Seeking to blend her cross-cultural Hispanic and Scottish heritage, Ria's strength and resolve are tested in a series of road trip adventures. Along the way she makes mistakes that, despite consequences, might not be mistakes at all. She learns to follow intuition as she navigates the outer world, becoming her own unique person while making peace with her past.
GYPSY SOUP celebrates how lessons of the heart and the roller-coaster of life combine on the cusp of adulthood in an era when sex, drugs and rock-and-roll defined the language of a generation.
“I found myself setting out right alongside Ria. Her adventures, the people she meets, the surprising twists and turns kept me engaged and curious....Gypsy Soup is a book as spicy, delicious, and enticing as its name.” —GRACE WELKER, creator of Oasis Pages Diary “After a while, I couldn't put it down. It was so entrancing. A heart-warming story!” – JAY SCHLECTER PhD, author of Intimate Friends
Click images to order from Amazon
WORDS AND PHOTOS: a little bit Zen 2
SONGS OF THE ELWHA: Words and Photos
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Place - A Journey of Possibilities
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volume 1
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volume 2
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volume 3
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volume 4
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Volume 5
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments- Volume 6
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Duets
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Wandering at Salt Creek
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Content copyright 2024. NIRVANHOPE.COM All rights reserved.
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“This lovely and sophisticated little coffee table book brings home the magic and abundance of the natural world. I’ll enjoy revisiting it for inspiration…”
An AMAZON Review
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"This beautifully crafted book gives an emotional and in-depth perspective of Nirvan's journey as she tried to find answers to many questions that influenced her life. It is an interesting and compelling read with well written and empathetic descriptive detail. " C. LOWE.
In her second 'little bit Zen' book, Nirvan Hope invites the reader to enjoy a few aha moments captured in thirty-three images, accompanied by a simplicity of words.
Available in Paperback on Amazon:
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Available in Paperback on Amazon:
Gypsy Soup
and on Kindle: Gypsy Soup
"A Zen inspiration, a gem. An inspired collection of original images and words that evoke the essence of Zen." An AMAZON review
“Interestingly the photos are all done in grayscale, reflecting in some sense the predominant weather of the northwest. But too, it’s as if the author/photographer is protecting us from the intensity of her work. The photographic composition and details are so exquisite that seeing them in color might actually be too much. Similarly, her words are best appreciated sparingly, savoring one line at a time.” G. RANDY KASTEN, Author
“Is it a book of poetry or of photographs? Is it the author, is it the reader, or is it the earth space itself she speaks of/to? There is a merging of all. The black and white/grey photos are like drawings or maybe they make me want to draw them. The words are similarly enticing. . . poetic, hypnotic, First Peoples, pantheist, self-help, celebratory, Buddhist/Be Here Now-ish. The places are "local", some I haven't been to, or if I have, showing perspectives from other views. If one has never been to Washington, this would be the best enticement, though it's not intended as a commercial travel guide.” DIANNA T DRYDEN, Feldenkrais Teacher
"Trip Back: Windows to the Past " is an open-hearted memoir, poignant, chilling, tender and full of grace. As I read of Nirvan Hope's multi-layered childhood growing up in Northern Nigeria, my heart leaped open and reached out to her." JUDY FORD author of Wonderful Ways to Love a Child; Single: the Art of Being Satisfied, Fulfilled and Independent; and Every Day Love.
33 images accompanied by a simplicity of words.
SONGS OF THE ELWHA: Words and Photos
The day came to recognize the Elwha as the 16th river of her life, not for this 47-mile river’s fame, but, after many hours wandering, to honor a small section of the Elwha valley with scenes river and nature with 33 images and writing, witnessed through changing seasons.
"a collection of beautiful photos and lyrical thoughts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do".
"When one considers the words here it is quite amazing. When those words are combined with these marvels of nature photography one begins to consider the world and life in a much deeper way.” JEFF REAL, Photographer
THERE MIGHT BE DAYS: Prose Poems and Pics 1
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WORDS AND PHOTOS: Place - A Journey of Possibilities
nirvan hope
In the series, WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments, Nirvan invites the reader to travel beyond the page into a magical world of beauty, curiosity and imagination through thirty-three images of nature, accompanied by words to entertain, entice and enchant. Aha moments, tiny recipes for contemplation, and little-known facts encourage the reader to pay attention to encounters in the natural world, to witness, listen, and respond with awakened senses to the wisdom nature has to share. Here are photos and words to inspire your own conversations across borders of nature, curiosity and the imaginal realm.
Following water from storm cloud to glacier, to stream, to river and on to the ocean, 33 images with 33 pieces of poetic writing.
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WORDS AND PHOTOS: Love and the Infinite
WORDS AND PHOTOS: A Little Bit Zen
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments - Birds
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Going with the Flow
TRIP BACK: Windows to the Past - a Memoir Collection
THREE SEASONS of BEES and Other Natural and Unnatural Things : A Pacific Northwest Journal
GYPSY SOUP - a Novel
LOVE AND THE INFINITE - Poems
LOVE AND THE INFINITE is a selection of 'wordsongs', ecstatic verse, written from 1992 to 1998 in which Nirvan shares experiences of love and longing, both human and divine, in the ongoing dance between mystery and consciousness.
Bee yards. Swarm catching. Moving bees in mountain migrations. Harvesting hive products. In this lyrical memoir, beekeeper Nirvan Hope gives the reader a taste of beekeeping 75 to 120 hives with her then partner, Roy, through one spring, summer and fall at the beginning of the twenty-first century around the Olympic Peninsula.
When not beekeeping, Nirvan explores changing seasons in forests, rivers and lakes on the Tahuya Peninsula. River wading, gardening, mushrooming, a baby eagle rescue, bear sightings and spawning salmon offer gentle pleasures.
But as if to balance the slow tempo of pastoral bliss, the shadow side of Pacific Northwest rural life shows up: a not-so-happy world of vandals, brush pickers, clear cuts, frightening found objects and escalating frustration and paranoia spawned by the arrival of suspected identity thieves and meth labs on a neighboring property.
"Written in beautiful, lyrical language that transports the reader to the fields and forests of the Pacific Northwest. A modern day Walden Pond." VALERIE WEST writer: No Brother of Mine
"...both riveting and contemplative" "...read one chapter at a time, a great meditation" "a skillful photographic way with words" "this is a really magical book"
From her many Moon images, Nirvan Hope shares 33 random photos of the moon's ethereal elemental beauty, or playful presence,. She draws inspiration from her knowledge of astrology for 33 pieces of writing along with the photos.
"Delightful writing and an inspiring visual journey." S.
WORDS AND PHOTOS: Little Enchantments, - The Moon
THERE MIGHT BE DAYS: Prose Poems and Pics 1
THERE MIGHT BE DAYS 2: A Mash up of Diverse Wanderings
"Using poetry and prose, Nirvan Hope displays her flair for gazing directly at the essence of people, places and events. The memoir shares the author's varied life with a keen appreciation for the core of each moment - the reader will be fortunate to share her discovery of the perfection inherent in many of those moments. She recalls things as they were, not as she wished or wishes they were. To borrow from a description in the book, her writing "zizzles and clicks". G. RANDY KASTEN, author of Just Trust Me: Finding Truth in a World of Spin; A Step Away; and Rejections from a Literary Agent: Discouraging Writers, One Bad Query at a Time.
An eclectic mix of memoirish musings to inspire a reader’s own reflections as words shift through a variety of day-to day moods, nuance, experience, and revelation.
PRAISE FOR THERE MIGHT BE DAYS 2: "Whenever I I pick it up to peruse, I am reminded of the wonder and the promise of my days, and am inspired to appreciate and make the most of them" An AMAZON review