“A man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.”
Thomas Merton
Happy Friday
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TWSBI Classic in White -
Nature as a classroom
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
Thomas Merton -
Working Out Our Success
A Cold and Frosty Morning “The solution of the problem of life is life itself. Life is not attained by reasoning and analysis, but first of all by living. For until we have begun to live our prudence has no material to work on. And until we have begun to fail we have no way of working out our success.”
Thomas MertonWell, I guess that means I need to take a few more bad images. I posted this image previously in color. For this image I converted it to black and white with Silver Efex Pro.
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Palm Trees
Palm trees against the western skies from the patio As you can tell from this image I am in a very different place than my last post which included rain and snow and cold. I arrived Sunday afternoon in Phoenix to much warmer temperatures and the warm embrace of family. My brother-in-law, John, cooked up a chicken on the new grill for dinner. We sat on the patio in shorts sleeves to eat. I snapped a photo of these Palm trees just after the sun set from their patio. They live in Sun City Grand, Arizona. I think I’m going to enjoy my time down here and be present to family and the food.
“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” ― Thomas Merton
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I’m Ready
Apple Blossoms “There is a greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question.” – Thomas Merton
I noticed this blossom on my walk from the transit center to Mugs coffeehouse last week. It was snowing lightly when I took the image. Spring is coming and I’m ready.
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Heading North
Cholla and Starburst “We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.”
Thomas MertonI’m heading north for Colorado and home. Will drive through Arches National Park on the way and scout things out. Maybe we can have a meet-up there.
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Who We Really Are
Archways “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” Strive each day to be who you really are.
Thomas Merton -
Spiritual Vitality
Holy Saturday Sunset “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. The mind that responds to the intellectual and spiritual values that lie hidden in a poem, a painting, or a piece of music, discovers a spiritual vitality that lifts it above itself, takes it out if itself, and makes it present to itself on a level of being that it did not know it could ever achieve.”
No Man Is An Island by Thomas MertonI sat on the ground for almost an hour watching the sun set on the Rocky Mountains, trying to be present to the moment and every once in a while pressing my shutter button. I listened to Meadowlarks sing in the distance. I watched two hawks sweep in and perch on the row of trees just behind these. I watched 8-10 white tail deer feed in the field to my right with a watchful eye on me. We were all just being present.
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Finding Ourselves
St. Agnes Church in Rockville Center “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas MertonI’m on a 4-day trip and sitting my hotel room. It’s quiet. I like these times. These are times when I read or journal, check emails or read a few blogs. After finding the above quote it has perked my interest to write.
For me the past year has been focused around art. Most of the books I’ve read all pertain to some form of art: writing, painting, photography, sculpting, etc. I’m not sure how much I considered my photography as art but because of all the reading I’ve done, and looking closely at how I work at photography, my views are changing. Photography is my paint brush for expressing my vision, my creativity and how I see the world around me. I’m learning to listen to the voice within me to create images pleasing to me and even write posts about my photography. As I’m listening to the muse, as Pressfield suggests, I’m finding out new things about myself and seeing the world with a fresher vision. I press the shutter button on my camera for my need to express myself. And, to express myself I need to know more about myself.
Here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed reading lately:
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Linchpin by Seth Godin
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I Miss My Books
Books I miss my books. They are in storage back in Colorado, collecting dust. I’ve enjoyed reading books over the past few years. Books can refresh the mind. When we read a book we individually draw up the scenes and create characters as only we can do. I’ve bought and read books on spirituality, personal growth, enneagrams, religions and of course photography. I’ve learned to read back over these books every once in a while as they seem to go through a editing process since I last read them. Very seldom do I read novels, usually one or two a year, that’s all. I have a few favorite authors who have helped me along life’s journey and in a way have become my friends. Their books adorn my book shelves. Sure miss my books. I may have to wander in to the library or bookstore today.
