My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.
Allow yourself to be like a child, seeing the world through fresh eyes. Instead of trying to control life by making sense of it, embrace ambiguity and paradox as being the domain of the truest things.
Mirabai Starr
I’ve come to realize we can only experience the world when we are a part of it. Seeing it with fresh eyes. Feeling the cold. Listening to the silence. Smelling the tangy fragrance of pine. Watching the clouds constantly change shape. Realizing how a small a part we are within the cosmos. So, even at my age I desire to be childlike but not childish, seeing the world with fresh eyes, embracing ambiguity and paradoxes and letting go of the need to know the answers!
I have made it through some hard times in my life. I imagine you have too.
Looking back, I can honestly say That in more than one of those times I was not sure I would make it.
The presence of a living and conscious love Got me through. I can only call it Spirit. So my faith is not the product of an emotional need Or an intellectual imagining.
I believe because I know. Because I have been there. Because of my experience.
I cannot convince others of this truth. I can only share it and wait to see The light of memory in their eyes.
Steven Charleston
I believe in the presence of a living and conscious love because I, too, have been there and experienced it.
Meditation is the attempt to provide the soul with the proper environment in which to grow and become.
Morton T. Kelsey
As the quote suggests I’ve come to believe that starting each morning with a meditation time provides my soul with the proper environment in which to grow and become. But, I also include my time in nature as part of my meditation. The beauty, serenity, and silence of a sunrise and being able to share it, does something to my soul, just as the twenty minutes sitting on a zafu cushion does. And, both of these experiences are the perks in my retirement years and for being an early riser. I am grateful!
When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days.
John O’Donohue
As I parked the car at Pineridge Natural Area this morning, I realized I was moving in autopilot mode. I only took two photos then headed to the coffee shop. Any inspiration to be there was lacking. I know one reason was the cold. Another reason was because my chattering mind kept me from being present to any journey of discovery or reverence. That’s not my norm. The above quote has been sitting in waiting for the right time to be posted and this seems to be the day. This morning there was almost no reverence of my presence to myself or the natural world I am a part of. As I have journeyed through the day, and that is what each day is for, a sense of peace and reverence has settled in and I am grateful for my life! I hope you had a good day and stay warm!
Predawn at Pineridge Natural Area – 28 sec at f 22.0 and ISO 200
It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not. We need to learn to appreciate the value of impermanence.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Nature is a good teacher of about impermanence. If we watch closely nature is always in flux. In this scene the movement of the clouds is blurred during a 28 second exposure. Yet, as we stand and observe this scene we are not necessarily aware of the subtle changes with them. I now enjoy taking the time to watch the changes as they happen. I took a total of eight images from this same spot and each one is subtly different. Photography has and is helping me learn to appreciate the value of impermanence. It looks like much of the nation is dealing with wintry weather. So stay warm, be safe!
Last sunrise for this year at Pineridge Natural Area
A cool 20 degrees and clear skies this morning to end the year. I got up early so I could watch the predawn colors over Dixon Reservoir at Pineridge Natural Area. So beautifully quiet up there. An owl would hoot once in a while, giving notice, or warning, of their presence. I took a few photos of the subtle colors. When my hands got cold I headed to Mugs for an Old Town mocha made by Adrianna.
I’m not much of a New Years celebration type of guy. And, I have never been one to make new year’s resolutions, probably because I’m not good at keeping them or remembering them. I’m practicing a way of life where each day is an opportunity to step over a new threshold into a world of experiences and lessons. No better gift than that! When I don’t plan tomorrow I will not be disappointed and more apt to enjoy life’s surprises! However, I may gather with friends early this evening and hopefully be sound asleep by nine. I assume that’s due to age and wisdom (those lessons learned)!! May your coming year be full of unimaginable gifts and may you and your families be healthy. Thank you for your presence and comments on my blog this past year.
