Olena Kuzmina
@lenkalesoleil.bsky.social
Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. 💚nature, poetry, Buddhism, landscape painting, haiku, trees 🌲🌳, 🐾 cats, rainy summer & solitude ☘️
Pinned
Olena Kuzmina
@lenkalesoleil.bsky.social
· May 27
To anyone who has spent time with an animal, the notion that they have no interior lives seems so counterintuitive, such an obdurate denial of the empathetically self-evident, as to be almost psychotic.
archive.nytimes.com/opinionator....
#timkreider #companionanimal #petloss
archive.nytimes.com/opinionator....
#timkreider #companionanimal #petloss
James Hamilton Hay (1874–1916)
The Falling Star (1909)
Hay's death from lung cancer in 1916, aged 42, prematurely ended his career, preventing him from being as well known as he might have been.
[I do miss *snowy* winters so much...]
#painting #jameshamiltonhay
The Falling Star (1909)
Hay's death from lung cancer in 1916, aged 42, prematurely ended his career, preventing him from being as well known as he might have been.
[I do miss *snowy* winters so much...]
#painting #jameshamiltonhay
December 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
James Hamilton Hay (1874–1916)
The Falling Star (1909)
Hay's death from lung cancer in 1916, aged 42, prematurely ended his career, preventing him from being as well known as he might have been.
[I do miss *snowy* winters so much...]
#painting #jameshamiltonhay
The Falling Star (1909)
Hay's death from lung cancer in 1916, aged 42, prematurely ended his career, preventing him from being as well known as he might have been.
[I do miss *snowy* winters so much...]
#painting #jameshamiltonhay
“Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.”
(Kathleen Norris)
[source? & who is she? but I like the quote]
#lifeiseasy #quote #life #kathleennorris
(Kathleen Norris)
[source? & who is she? but I like the quote]
#lifeiseasy #quote #life #kathleennorris
December 18, 2025 at 3:04 PM
“Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.”
(Kathleen Norris)
[source? & who is she? but I like the quote]
#lifeiseasy #quote #life #kathleennorris
(Kathleen Norris)
[source? & who is she? but I like the quote]
#lifeiseasy #quote #life #kathleennorris
Here indeed is a major difference between people and ants: where we send our young men to war, ants send their old ladies. No moral lesson there, unless you are looking for a less expensive form of elder care.
― Edward O. Wilson (1929 - 2021), The Meaning of Human Existence
#biology #theantman
― Edward O. Wilson (1929 - 2021), The Meaning of Human Existence
#biology #theantman
December 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Here indeed is a major difference between people and ants: where we send our young men to war, ants send their old ladies. No moral lesson there, unless you are looking for a less expensive form of elder care.
― Edward O. Wilson (1929 - 2021), The Meaning of Human Existence
#biology #theantman
― Edward O. Wilson (1929 - 2021), The Meaning of Human Existence
#biology #theantman
“I sometimes longed for someone who, like me, had not adjusted perfectly with his age, & such a person was hard to find; but I soon discovered cats, in which I could imagine a condition like mine, & books, where I found it quite often.”
Julio Cortázar
Around the Day in Eighty Worlds
#cats #cortazar
Julio Cortázar
Around the Day in Eighty Worlds
#cats #cortazar
December 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
"The real nature of each thing, and more so, of all things, is a poetical one. . . Haiku shows us what we knew all the time, but did not know we knew; it shows us that we are poets in so far as we live at all."
Reginald Horace Blyth, Haiku, Volume 1: Eastern Culture (Hokuseido Press 1949)
#haiku
Reginald Horace Blyth, Haiku, Volume 1: Eastern Culture (Hokuseido Press 1949)
#haiku
December 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
"The real nature of each thing, and more so, of all things, is a poetical one. . . Haiku shows us what we knew all the time, but did not know we knew; it shows us that we are poets in so far as we live at all."
Reginald Horace Blyth, Haiku, Volume 1: Eastern Culture (Hokuseido Press 1949)
#haiku
Reginald Horace Blyth, Haiku, Volume 1: Eastern Culture (Hokuseido Press 1949)
#haiku
A pioneering force in elephant conservation, Iain revolutionised our understanding of African elephants through his groundbreaking research.
savetheelephants.org/news/world-r...
savetheelephants.org/news/world-r...
WORLD-RENOWNED AFRICAN ELEPHANT EXPERT, DR IAIN DOUGLAS-HAMILTON, DIES AGED 83
Nairobi, Kenya – Tuesday, 9 December 2025: It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, renowned Scottish zoologist and founder & president of Save the Elephants.
savetheelephants.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A pioneering force in elephant conservation, Iain revolutionised our understanding of African elephants through his groundbreaking research.
savetheelephants.org/news/world-r...
savetheelephants.org/news/world-r...
...this is what we fear—no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anaesthetic from which none come round...
From "Aubade" (Nov. 1977) by Philip Larkin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDr_...
#poetry #philiplarkin
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anaesthetic from which none come round...
From "Aubade" (Nov. 1977) by Philip Larkin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDr_...
#poetry #philiplarkin
December 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
...this is what we fear—no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anaesthetic from which none come round...
From "Aubade" (Nov. 1977) by Philip Larkin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDr_...
#poetry #philiplarkin
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anaesthetic from which none come round...
From "Aubade" (Nov. 1977) by Philip Larkin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDr_...
#poetry #philiplarkin
Philip Larkin died of cancer on December 2 1985.
"I am going to the inevitable," he said to the nurse who was holding his hand.
#philiplarkin #poetry #inmemory
"I am going to the inevitable," he said to the nurse who was holding his hand.
#philiplarkin #poetry #inmemory
December 2, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Philip Larkin died of cancer on December 2 1985.
"I am going to the inevitable," he said to the nurse who was holding his hand.
#philiplarkin #poetry #inmemory
"I am going to the inevitable," he said to the nurse who was holding his hand.
#philiplarkin #poetry #inmemory
Swedish painter Georg Pauli (1855–1935)
Evening Reading (1884)
#readingisbliss #cozyevening #booklover #painting #georgpauli #eveningreading
Evening Reading (1884)
#readingisbliss #cozyevening #booklover #painting #georgpauli #eveningreading
November 26, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Swedish painter Georg Pauli (1855–1935)
Evening Reading (1884)
#readingisbliss #cozyevening #booklover #painting #georgpauli #eveningreading
Evening Reading (1884)
#readingisbliss #cozyevening #booklover #painting #georgpauli #eveningreading
They are the animals we eat and the animals we wear. They are the animals used in research and for entertainment, as well as the animals we sacrifice in the name of tradition and religion.
weanimals.org/2025/11/17/f...
#weanimals #joaquinphoenix #compassion #painhidden
weanimals.org/2025/11/17/f...
#weanimals #joaquinphoenix #compassion #painhidden
November 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
They are the animals we eat and the animals we wear. They are the animals used in research and for entertainment, as well as the animals we sacrifice in the name of tradition and religion.
weanimals.org/2025/11/17/f...
#weanimals #joaquinphoenix #compassion #painhidden
weanimals.org/2025/11/17/f...
#weanimals #joaquinphoenix #compassion #painhidden
...Grant me a no news day,
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all...
a day we can barely recall
#poetry #simplelife #nonewsgoodnews #BrianBilston
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all...
a day we can barely recall
#poetry #simplelife #nonewsgoodnews #BrianBilston
November 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
...Grant me a no news day,
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all...
a day we can barely recall
#poetry #simplelife #nonewsgoodnews #BrianBilston
a spare-me-your-views day,
in which nothing much happens at all...
a day we can barely recall
#poetry #simplelife #nonewsgoodnews #BrianBilston
In spring, hundreds of flowers;
in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze;
in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
any season is a good season for you.
The Gateless Gate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxE...
#zen #buddhism #thegatelessgate
in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze;
in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
any season is a good season for you.
The Gateless Gate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxE...
#zen #buddhism #thegatelessgate
THE GATELESS GATE: Compilation of Zen Koans
YouTube video by AudioBuddha
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
In spring, hundreds of flowers;
in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze;
in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
any season is a good season for you.
The Gateless Gate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxE...
#zen #buddhism #thegatelessgate
in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze;
in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
any season is a good season for you.
The Gateless Gate
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxE...
#zen #buddhism #thegatelessgate
Gain or loss, let me accept the karma as it brings to me the one or the other; the Mind itself knows neither increase, nor decrease.
-- Bodhidharma
Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2024
#buddhism #karma #survivaltree #bodhidharma #stoicism #keepingsane
-- Bodhidharma
Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2024
#buddhism #karma #survivaltree #bodhidharma #stoicism #keepingsane
November 19, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Gain or loss, let me accept the karma as it brings to me the one or the other; the Mind itself knows neither increase, nor decrease.
-- Bodhidharma
Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2024
#buddhism #karma #survivaltree #bodhidharma #stoicism #keepingsane
-- Bodhidharma
Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine, July 2024
#buddhism #karma #survivaltree #bodhidharma #stoicism #keepingsane
Fish, octopuses, crabs, and other aquatic animals feel pain, stress, and emotions.
via www.animal-ethics.org
#speciecism #animalethics #aquaticanimals #compassion
via www.animal-ethics.org
#speciecism #animalethics #aquaticanimals #compassion
November 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Fish, octopuses, crabs, and other aquatic animals feel pain, stress, and emotions.
via www.animal-ethics.org
#speciecism #animalethics #aquaticanimals #compassion
via www.animal-ethics.org
#speciecism #animalethics #aquaticanimals #compassion
November 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
“Our life is our garden. Whatever's in it, we put it there."
— Buddhist nun Robina Courtin
#buddhism #quote #karma #youaretheboss #robinacourtin
— Buddhist nun Robina Courtin
#buddhism #quote #karma #youaretheboss #robinacourtin
November 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
“Our life is our garden. Whatever's in it, we put it there."
— Buddhist nun Robina Courtin
#buddhism #quote #karma #youaretheboss #robinacourtin
— Buddhist nun Robina Courtin
#buddhism #quote #karma #youaretheboss #robinacourtin
The Blue Door (1927) by Josept Raymond Wintz (1884 – 1956), a Paris-born painter and engraver whose most famous paintings were of marine and coastal views in Brittany.
I'd like to be inside this painting...
#painting #art #RaymondWintz
www.artnet.com/artists/raym...
I'd like to be inside this painting...
#painting #art #RaymondWintz
www.artnet.com/artists/raym...
November 11, 2025 at 12:46 PM
The Blue Door (1927) by Josept Raymond Wintz (1884 – 1956), a Paris-born painter and engraver whose most famous paintings were of marine and coastal views in Brittany.
I'd like to be inside this painting...
#painting #art #RaymondWintz
www.artnet.com/artists/raym...
I'd like to be inside this painting...
#painting #art #RaymondWintz
www.artnet.com/artists/raym...
They didn’t know it was war. They just trusted us.
They carried soldiers.
Pulled wounded men to safety.
Stood steady under fire.
And they did it all because we asked (made?) them to.
They didn’t choose to serve.
But they served anyway.
Remember them.
#remembranceday #warhorses #waranimals
They carried soldiers.
Pulled wounded men to safety.
Stood steady under fire.
And they did it all because we asked (made?) them to.
They didn’t choose to serve.
But they served anyway.
Remember them.
#remembranceday #warhorses #waranimals
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
They didn’t know it was war. They just trusted us.
They carried soldiers.
Pulled wounded men to safety.
Stood steady under fire.
And they did it all because we asked (made?) them to.
They didn’t choose to serve.
But they served anyway.
Remember them.
#remembranceday #warhorses #waranimals
They carried soldiers.
Pulled wounded men to safety.
Stood steady under fire.
And they did it all because we asked (made?) them to.
They didn’t choose to serve.
But they served anyway.
Remember them.
#remembranceday #warhorses #waranimals
November 10, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Humans, let's use our brains and hearts... Everything is interconnected. Stay awake & responsible. Please
#gardening #responsibility #noplastic #wildbirds
#gardening #responsibility #noplastic #wildbirds
November 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Humans, let's use our brains and hearts... Everything is interconnected. Stay awake & responsible. Please
#gardening #responsibility #noplastic #wildbirds
#gardening #responsibility #noplastic #wildbirds
A dog had to be put to sleep after suffering an anxiety-induced stroke due to fireworks.
www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast...
#entertainment #animalVShuman #petanimals #humanbehaviour
www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast...
#entertainment #animalVShuman #petanimals #humanbehaviour
Dog put to sleep after anxiety-induced stroke due to fireworks
Belfast councillor Anthony Flynn has now called for an urgent review of the Fireworks Law after the incident
www.belfastlive.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
A dog had to be put to sleep after suffering an anxiety-induced stroke due to fireworks.
www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast...
#entertainment #animalVShuman #petanimals #humanbehaviour
www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast...
#entertainment #animalVShuman #petanimals #humanbehaviour
This short film was made with 2,500 oil paintings.
October 27th is a special day in Mexican folklore: the souls of our pets who loved us come back to visit, so people include their favourite treats or toys on the altars to help guide them home.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVw...
#petloss
October 27th is a special day in Mexican folklore: the souls of our pets who loved us come back to visit, so people include their favourite treats or toys on the altars to help guide them home.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVw...
#petloss
October 31, 2025 at 1:19 PM
This short film was made with 2,500 oil paintings.
October 27th is a special day in Mexican folklore: the souls of our pets who loved us come back to visit, so people include their favourite treats or toys on the altars to help guide them home.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVw...
#petloss
October 27th is a special day in Mexican folklore: the souls of our pets who loved us come back to visit, so people include their favourite treats or toys on the altars to help guide them home.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVw...
#petloss
2020: Throughout Poland, local authorities are chopping down trees as a “safety” measure. But scientists and activists say it is not only unnecessary but counterproductive, as it exacerbates the problems caused by climate change.
notesfrompoland.com/2020/10/02/p...
2025: it's only getting worse
notesfrompoland.com/2020/10/02/p...
2025: it's only getting worse
Poland’s war on trees
notesfrompoland.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
2020: Throughout Poland, local authorities are chopping down trees as a “safety” measure. But scientists and activists say it is not only unnecessary but counterproductive, as it exacerbates the problems caused by climate change.
notesfrompoland.com/2020/10/02/p...
2025: it's only getting worse
notesfrompoland.com/2020/10/02/p...
2025: it's only getting worse
October 27, 2025 at 1:17 PM