“Zen is less the study of doctrine than a set of tools for discovering what can be known when the world is looked at with open eyes.”
Jane Hirshfield, The Heart of Haiku
I was surprised to see the dusting of snow and fog this morning. So I took the long-cut to the coffee shop via Stuart Street to visit the cottonwood tree at the Fisher Nature Area Trail. If you look closely you will see a red tailed hawk in the top of the cottonwood. Fog has burned off as blue sky and sunshine make their appearance. Have a wonderful Saturday and look with open eyes!
Here is an attempt to photograph a scene where I wanted you to experience what I was experiencing. The late afternoon sunlight had the grass shimmering in gold, while the wind had the grass dancing to the music of silence. The first meadowlarks of the season were singing to me. There was that feeling of solitude, distant from the cities clamber. I took several images of the backlit grass along the fence with the awareness you probably wouldn’t experience what I was experiencing through this image. It just can’t. For you would have to be there to experience it. But, as a photographer, I will always try. That’s just what we do.
With our our country’s political strife, the pandemic and world violence it is vital for us to keep our inner peace and sanity. So, I wanted to share a question with you that I came across yesterday. I am going to use it as a seed in my meditations and to journal about over the next few days. How are you keeping peace alive in your heart and mind?
Here are some of my ways: quiet time, prayer and meditation, time with nature, journaling, reading, photography, poetry, early mornings at coffee shops, healthy conversations with friends, daily walks and more… which is pretty much what I do every day. I must admit I’m concerned what impact our worlds insanity has on everyone especially those immediately impacted. It’s demonstrated to me how far reaching our actions have on others. Therefore, whatever simple actions I can do to keep peace within my heart and mind matters. And, I have no idea how my actions or words or prayers can reach out into the universe and positively affect others. Maybe just taking a “one-breath” meditation throughout the day will clear the mind, keeping peace alive in our hearts and minds and the world.
We may get above 32 degrees today for the first time in 4 days. As my sister would say, I’m esscited!!!!
We are expecting more snow to move into the area this morning and into the night. Mountains will see over a foot while we will see 1-5 inches. Much needed moisture for everyone. Took this image on New Years Day at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area.
I don’t know about other people’s cameras. Mine is a thing I had cobbled up, it holds together with tape and is always losing parts. All I need to set is the distance and that other thing—what do you call that other thing?
“The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers — of persistence, concentration, and insight — to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems. make art, think deeply.”
Susan Cain
For any photographer to return home with an image that we feel is a keeper, we must place ourselves in the right spot, at the right time, to find the right light. Photography as well as a spiritual practice have been the work I needed to help me to live life, solve problems, make art and think deeply. I think Susan is spot on. It’s 23 degrees this morning with clear skies and wind. They are predicting rain and snow this evening in the high country and a slight possibility for the foothills and plains. Hope you use your natural powers!
Above all, it’s hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of these unmade images that is the only assurance that the best photographs are yet to be made.
