Kiss me and you

I never fully understood how prophetic the acronym KISS was when I first saw it. Years later, with hindsight garnered from The great Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his book on mindfulness, do I see the connection.

“KISS, an acronym for keep it simple, stupid, is a design principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. The phrase has been associated with aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson. The term “KISS principle” was in popular use by 1970. Variations on the phrase include: “Keep it simple, silly”, “keep it short and simple”, “keep it short and sweet”, “keep it simple and straightforward”, “keep it small and simple”, “keep it simple, soldier”, “keep it simple, sailor”, or “keep it sweet and simple”.”

I wish I understood it back in 1960 because it would have transformed my life as it is doing now.

Some areas where it has helped me.

I have been the main cook in my families for over 45 years. In that time I never used a cookbook. I thought it was way too complicated to have to read , make a shopping list and hunt all over town for the ingredients.

Now I have a ‘simple’ recipe book with around 20 recipes in it for hummus, pizza, bread, green curry, tahini, chapati, Mossman curry, ginger beer etc. And I know where to buy the main ingredients easily: flour, curry paste, coconut milk, vegetables sesame seeds, oil, sea salt and sugar. This is 3 weeks of cooking something different every day and the ingredients are in the cupboard most of the time.

I got my first camera, a black Nikon F, at the age of 17. I spent years confounding myself with technical jargon, ending in sporadic results.

Around the age of 40 I realised my friend and famous photographer Henri Cartier Bresson had 1 camera, 1 kind of film, and a few exposure settings.

Henri Cartier-Bresson used a 35mm Leica rangefinder camera with a 50mm lens. He shot everything in black and white with Kodak Tri-X ISO 400 film. He would normally set the shutter speed to 1/125 s and adjust the aperture based on the lighting conditions

John Wilkins from Warrnambool used an old Mamiya Press Camera and used much the same settings as Bresson.

And both their subjects were people, environmental portraits, staged or taken in the moment.

Much like the recipes, it wasn’t until I uncovered the meaning of KISS that I got my chaos under some kind of control.

There are so many examples I am embarrassed to mention them all.

One more will suffice to get the idea across, to those who haven’t discovered KISS yet.

Love has been a nightmare, mainly for my partners and then me. Without any idea what love really meant, I tried everything and ended up empty handed.

Now thanks to KISS I finally understand that love is something you give to others, not a Hollywood movie, and they give to you. In a tangible and lasting way. Breakfast in bed, a massage, understanding, forgiveness and friendship.

KISS has also helped me with writing, photography, teaching, spirituality, religion, politics and music.

The essence of everything is from and to the heart.

Thich has a KISS way of looking at boosting your inner peace and happiness.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95747.The_Miracle_of_Mindfulness

Roditch 2022

Roditch

Biography

I am a retired Photography Teacher, Refugee Settlement Manager, and Builder. For the past 10 years, I have been teaching part-time, writing books, taking photos and doing lots of research.

All the books I write come from experience and research. Yes, in my life so far I have worked with refugees, taught art, built houses, studied herbs, and health. I have also studied astrology spirituality including meditation, animal welfare, and poetry.

I sincerely hope that you can gain valuable information from my books (usually short and sweet introductions) to different facets of life I have visited.

Where to find Roditch online

Website: http://roditch.com

Blog: http://roditch.com

Books

A Candle to Myself by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 103,380. Language: English. Published: January 6, 2022. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs

A story about my life in Warrnambool, Castlemaine and Rushworth

Dropout 2020 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 249,020. Language: English. Published: December 19, 2021. Categories: Nonfiction » Children’s Books » Lifestyles / Country Life

Time to dropout and start a new, secure and sustainable life.

Portraits by Roditch

Price: $2.00 USD. Language: English. Published: October 26, 2021. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

Portraits by Roditch. These photos are a collection of Roditch’s portraits over the past 5 years. They are a reflection of the person.

Thailand by Roditch

Price: $2.00 USD. Language: English. Published: October 26, 2021. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

This is a collection of photographs of rural Thailand. Including farmers, Monks, temples and farms

Buddha by Roditch

Price: $2.00 USD. Language: English. Published: October 24, 2021. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

Original Photos of Buddha sculptures Thailand taken by famous photographer Roditch

Sentient Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 170. Language: English. Published: December 6, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » Spiritual inspiration

One reason I love Buddha is because he knew that animals had sentience, consciousness, and that consciousness was as valuable, respectable, sacred as any Homosapien.

Thailand of Dreams Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 170. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » Spiritual inspiration

Thailand is a country is worth exploring to regain your imagination, love of nature, fairy tales and spirits of the land.

Portraits and Souls Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 180. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » Spiritual inspiration

Portraits have always been there as a window into someone’s soul if only we are to look and care.

Beautiful Buddha Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 180. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » Spiritual inspiration

Buddha is the peace in the world. Everyone can benefit from Buddha,s teachings.

Angels Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 140. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » Spiritual inspiration

Children are the magic in the world. NASA has done research that confirms that all children are born creative geniuses, but, by the time they are 7 years old their genius has been retired by cultural and family conditioning.

Musing with the Fishes Series 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 180. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2020. Categories: Fiction » Inspirational

It is a wonderful way to relax and tune in with nature; just looking into water and musing with the fishes.

Off the Fence Posts by Roditch

Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 20. Language: English. Published: April 18, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

This book is a collection of posts I have made over the past 3 years.

Musing with the Fishes by Roditch

Price: $10.00 USD. Words: 530. Language: English. Published: April 16, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

What is real? As you look into these pictures you can see spirits and goblins and all sorts of magical things

Heartland 2 by Roditch

Price: $10.00 USD. Words: 600. Language: English. Published: April 15, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

Thailand people love family, culture, Buddha, music, and celebrations.

Heartland by Roditch

Price: $7.00 USD. Words: 1,090. Language: English. Published: April 15, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – Photo books

Thailand has a unique balance of culture, spirituality, art, agriculture, and the environment.

The Future Zen by Roditch

Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 7,120. Language: English. Published: April 14, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Inspiration » General self-help

Right now you are creating your future if nothing else. This book is about a future that belongs to the rich and powerful.

Teaching ESL English Zen by Roditch

Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 5,990. Language: English. Published: April 14, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Education & Study Guides » Teaching methods & materials / language arts

10 years of experience teaching ESL English to Kindergarten, Primary, Secondary, University, and Teachers.

Animal Sentience Zen by Roditch

Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 10,700. Language: English. Published: April 13, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Science & Nature » Animals

Sentience is the word we use to say that we are animals like animals are human.

Poet Zen by Roditch

Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 3,550. Language: English. Published: April 13, 2020. Categories: Poetry » Contemporary Poetry

Poetry is a way to communicate more deeply and completely. It is not just about writing a poem it is being a poem for your family, friends, and society.

Photography Zen by Roditch

Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 2,900. Language: English. Published: April 13, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Photography – how to

Photography comes from the soul as any art does, the deeper you go the better your photos will be.

Artist to the Core by Roditch

Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 750. Language: English. Published: April 13, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Art, Architecture, Photography » Artists

Shepparton, Victoria, Australia has produced an amazing amount of brilliant artists over the years.

Natural People by Roditch

Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 790. Language: English. Published: April 13, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Science & Nature » Environment

The conservationists in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria Australia are outstanding people.

Head in the Clouds by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 1,560. Language: English. Published: April 12, 2020. Categories: Poetry » Contemporary Poetry

Poetry from your own pen is a baby bird flying from the nest into the stars.

The Exit 1 by Roditch

Price: $5.00 USD. Words: 190. Language: English. Published: April 12, 2020. Categories: Poetry » Ancient Poetry