Immerse Yourself in the Mystery...

Moonrise: a pond painting from 30 December 2014

   An essential part of being a contemplative photographer for me is the ability to embrace the mystery...in the world around me and the world within me as well.  Since my word this year is Immerse, I will try to dive into the mystery more fully and completely.

   So much of the world is mysterious and I could say the same for the human psyche.  In my thinking, the mystic is someone who can throw their arms around this mystery and allow it to filter into their being permitting them to enter into that great realm of unknowing with complete acceptance. 

All saying must be balanced by unsaying, and knowing

 must be humbled by unknowing.   -Richard Rohr. 

   Photography, in general, is not a mystery.  It is a very knowable thing with proper study.  But what we chose to photograph and what we divine from those images, well, that can be a mystery on so many levels.  The resulting photographs can open up the mystery to eyes willing to welcome it.  I've come to more fully embrace mystery with my work at the pond these past six months.  I can "know" the place on one level but there is much about this place I will never know.  Those parts I can only experience and celebrate.  One way I do that is through my pond "paintings".  They allow me to more fully celebrate the mysterious element of this place in a visual and transcendent way.

   The following is a link to a wonderful article written by Christine Valters Paintner about practices you can use to more fully immerse yourself in the mystery...

Embracing Mystery in the New Year