The World Through My Eyes

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Traveling the world with a third-eye has always been the way I prefer to experience life. It means to view life openly and see everything – good or bad- with an open mind and heart. The world through my eyes can be contradictory and complex. Seeing both good and bad can bring so much immense joy and happiness while also such deep sadness that it makes your heart ache. Yet in my humble opinion, you cannot go through life with a blind eye. Otherwise nothing will change.

On my most recent trip through the Delhi slums as part of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, I saw a tremendous amount through my eyes. If I could look beyond the immense poverty, destruction, destitution and disease, I could also find beauty and hope. Beauty in the lovely warm smiles across the children’s eager faces whenever I pulled my camera out to snap their photo. Hope among the innocent faces of the girls in schools finally being given a chance to learn.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The world through my eyes sees so incredibly much.

This post was written in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: The World Through My Eyes. To view more entries, click here.

56 thoughts on “The World Through My Eyes”

    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Jennifer! I had to do it on my iPad as my big computer is in the shop so I wasn’t able to crop the pics how I’d have wanted but I still love the smiling faces on those children. I had so much fun with you on that trip Jennifer. What a life-changing trip. It confirmed my belief that this is the work for me, a life calling that I hope to someday do many more social good country visits and volunteerism. Seeing it on the ground makes it so much more of a reality. I will be following every post of your trip to Zambia and back to rural India with devotion! 🙂

      Reply ↓

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  3. These are precious and powerful images, Nicole. I need to get back to Delhi soon. I miss it! Have a great weekend, my friend.
    Hugs,
    Kathy

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Kathy! Aren’t the children lovely? I just wanted to hug and love them all. So inquisitive and so special. They all begged me to take their photo and the after I did, I showed them the picture on my camera and they smiled. They would have kept me there all day taking their photos if I could have stayed! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  4. restlessjo – Hi! I’m Jo! Johanna when I’m feeling posh, Jan to my Dad, and Joasiu to my Polish family. A bit of a mix-up, that’s me. The one constant, however, is my restless nature. I love to travel and to explore our world. It doesn’t have to be the big wide world. I can be ridiculously happy not too far from home, so long as I’m seeking new horizons. Of course I have a wish list, and it was to help me fulfil my dreams that I started to write travel guides for a venture called Simonseeks. I’d always kept a travel diary, and it was hugely satisfying to share my experiences and to make new friends who shared my passion for travel. Alas, Simonseeks hit a few troubles, but I still find myself writing about my travels. I’ve become addicted. I’d love to share them, and to make more friends. So, it has to be a blog- right? Or do I mean- write?
    restlessjo on said:

    It tugs at the heart, Nicole- as intended! Well done. 🙂

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Jo! These kids were relentless in their desire to have their photo taken.They kept chasing after me with big smiles. I could have hugged each one. So inquisitive, so loving and so innocent.

      Reply ↓
  5. jaime perez – Maracay, Estado Aragua, Venezuela – Born and stablished in Maracay, Venezuela, I´m a teacher and a passionate about photography. The idea of this blog is to share my vision of the world trough my pictures as welll as enjoying the views of the rest of the Wordpress comunity. Feel free to take a look and coment any post in my blogs; I'll appreciate it and I´ll take your feedback into consideration.
    jaime perez on said:

    Excellent! A priseworthy job. The very first image es formiable, it expresses by itself all your concern. Congratulations!

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Oh thank you so much! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much!

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes indeed! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      You’re welcome! It was such a treat to go there and meet these beautiful kids. Makes my advocacy work all that more important.

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    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes malnutrition is a huge huge problem in poor India. Just like here in the US, you also see many people that are largely obese yet the difference with poverty in India is that you see many skinny children and adults who have nothing to eat. Organizations like Save the Children are trying to help these kids get the nutrition they need but it is a tough battle with so many people living in poverty and food prices soaring.

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks for the reblog! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  10. ramblinginthecity – I am an architect and urban planner, a writer and an aspiring artist. I love expressing myself and feel strongly that cities should have spaces for everyone--rich, poor, young, old, healthy and sick, happy or depressed--we all need to work towards making our cities liveable and lovable communities.
    ramblinginthecity on said:

    Reblogged this on ramblinginthecity and commented:
    Lovely captures of slum children!

    Reply ↓
  11. vishalbheeroo – Work-in-progress, seeker, and bundle of contradictions. Stubborn and Refusal to grow up and constantly in search of myself, I blurt it out on my space. Drop in and share some love. Indian!!!
    vishalbheeroo on said:

    The kids may be poor but one can see the hunger and fire in the belly to achieve well. What they need is a proper platform to make their dreams come true. Thanks for sharing:)

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes so true. That is what was so inspiring about the different NGOs we visited in the slums where I took these pictures. The free schools that were helping these children learn and get a better chance at life where very inspiring.

      Reply ↓

  12. When you look at a child, they have the same innocence, aspirations & desires irrespective of the fact whether they are in a slum or inside your own home. Children are the best thing to happen to our society and yet we go ahead and corrupt them as per our own prejudices.
    Love the pictures you have taken and I am sure you fell in love with them the moment you saw them.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Great words! Yes, so incredibly true. When I went to India and met with the different NGOs working in these slums with the children, it was both heartbreaking and hopeful. What inspired me so much is that despite everything, these kids were just like my own. With hug smiles and hearts. I did fall in love with them and left committed to continuing my work in advocacy to help make as much change as I can.

      Reply ↓

      • You are doing something we only think about and after a while get back to our boring lives. It is great to get in touch with someone like you who knows that the kids mean the world … I wish you the best and hope to stay in touch with you. Cheers 🙂

      • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
        thirdeyemom on said:

        Thank you! I look forward to doing whatever I can over the future to help out and give back! 🙂

    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes so true! Thanks for the comment! 🙂

      Reply ↓

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  15. Sarah Ann – Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting my blog, Safaris and Sunsets. I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. My name is Sarah. I'm a twenty-something year old Connecticut girl who loves all things life. Traveling, writing, reading, home decorating, baking, hiking, the beach, chocolate, skiing, wine tasting, boating, meeting new people, diving into new cultures and all things in between. I call my blog "life's little explorations" ... from the big safaris to the everyday sunsets.
    Sarah Ann on said:

    These are beautiful photos and absolutely beautiful, inspiring children. It’s amazing how much the children of different cultures have the ability to full us in and make us feel like home there, when we’re really thousands of miles away.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much! They were delightful, playful and so wanting me to take their picture. I took them while visiting the slum with Save the Children where I learned about their work. The children made me smile. Yet there is so much work to be done!

      Reply ↓
  16. Harold Green – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico – I love exploring different cultures of our world with my wife Rita and my Nikon SLR camera. I try to bring back the overlaying rich textures of a different country’s lifestyle. To capture a moment in time as I float down a river, walk a mud-street village, hike a sand dune at sunrise, stroll up a jungle trail or cruise through the workshop of a regional craftsman, is a pleasure and a dream. It is a joy of mine to share these images with children and young students in hopes that my images will inspire a few of them to travel and explore in-depth other cultures of the world with an open mind. I am a professional photographer with a host of digital SLR gear. I am retired and live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico with my wife Rita. In my previous life I owned an advertising/public relations agency in Houston, Texas where I launched my 25-year career as the agency’s Creative Director. Upon retirement, in 1989, I moved full-time to the island of Martha’s Vineyard before moving to Mexico in 2001. I was born in upstate New York in the small town of Auburn on the Finger Lakes. I attended The Northwood Preparatory School in Lake Placid, New York. After graduation I received a degree in advertising and marketing from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The inspiration for my love of photography came from my father, who was an amateur photographer. As a young child, I spent many hours in his darkroom helping him hang black & white prints with a clothes pin.
    Harold Green on said:

    You are so right on third eye… to count how many countries one has been to, to me, is a waste. To experience, feel, enjoy, smile, cry and lend a caring helping hand inside a culture is what it’s all about.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Beautifully said. Thanks so much! 🙂

      Reply ↓

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    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much! 🙂 They make me smile!

      Reply ↓

  19. These are some of your most magnificent images yet Nicole. 🙂

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Oh thank you LuAnn! I met these kids at our slum tour with Save the Children. They were so delighted to have their photos taken that I could hardly leave. 🙂

      Reply ↓

  20. Lovely shots Nicole. I too beleive our way and thinking is not always the right one, but one we find familar or correct for the time being. We need to be open and see what is there… if only more people were more open minded imagine the possibilities.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks so much! 🙂 Yes we need to keep at it and help others, live life with an open mind and see what we can do! 🙂

      Reply ↓

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  23. Megan – London – Teacher, traveler, expat. Lover of bulldogs, roller derby and gin cocktails. Advice and travel inspiration
    Megan on said:

    Powerful pictures. Their faces, their eyes…and their smiles. So much potential if given the opportunity. Loved this post 🙂

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much Megan. This is exactly how I feel about these kids. The good thing that there are a lot of NGOs working in the slums trying to help these children and their families. The bad thing is there are so many families living in these situations. But you’ve got to keep hope! 🙂

      Reply ↓
      • Megan – London – Teacher, traveler, expat. Lover of bulldogs, roller derby and gin cocktails. Advice and travel inspiration
        Megan on said:

        I have a daughter currently working in Haiti. Yes, Haiti. She was in Uganda before that (this is why I am prematurely gray) doing health/aid work. I’ve been down to Haiti and it is Just. So. Overwhelming. You want to fix everything right away, but where to start?….I absolutely KNOW that education is the answer. I know this. I love how you’ve found a way to contribute while you travel. Ripples in the pond, right?

      • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
        thirdeyemom on said:

        Thanks so much for the wonderful words. You are indeed correct: Ripples in the pond. Just one step can make a difference. I would love to go to Haiti someday. That is on my list. Thanks for the encouragement!

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  28. Madhu – Madhu is an Interior designer turned travel blogger on a long sabbatical to explore the world. When not crafting stories on The Urge To Wander, she's probably Tweeting @theurgetowander or sharing special moments on instagram.com/theurgetowander
    Madhu on said:

    So heartrendingly beautiful Nicole!

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Madhu! I sure love India and its children. So lovely. I really hope to visit again and someday see the rural parts of the country. Did I tell you how much I LOVE the food too!

      Reply ↓
  29. anotherjennifer – Brunswick, Maine – Jennifer Iacovelli is an author, blogger and nonprofit unicorn. Based in Brunswick, Maine, she’s a proud single mom of two boys and two Siberian huskies. Her books include The Mother Of All Meltdowns and Simple Giving: Easy Ways to Give Every Day. Her work has been featured on HuffPost Divorce, Maria Shriver, GOOD, BlogHer, ONE, USAID Impact, Feed the Future, PSI Impact blog and more. Her passions are writing, philanthropy, her awesome kids, bacon and lifting heavy objects, though not necessarily in that order.
    anotherjennifer on said:

    Such a beautiful post, Nicole!

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Jennifer! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Jessica!

      Reply ↓

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