Reflections on the Tao: Doing and Being

The way to do

is to be.

- Lao Tzu

   Contemplative photography, at least for me, is as much about being as it is about doing.  What is crucial is that you allow the concept to evolve gradually, through time and exploration, until you arrive at a practice (the doing part) that aligns with your essential humanity ( the being part).  It is not a case of "one size fits all".

     Whenever I've lectured or led contemplative walks, I've emphasized that the being part must come first...the doing part will follow.  One must forge their own and unique relationship with the landscape, the world around them.  I built mine through the application of Taoist principles as well as Celtic spirituality but it is, by no means, the be all and end all of contemplative photography.  It is my way, that's all.

   Immersing myself early on in the basic principles of Celtic spirituality and Taoism opened up a path that I could have found in other ways perhaps but it fit me like a well worn pair of shoes.  It was comfortable and nothing pinched.  Many, if not all, workshops and teachings revolve around the doing part and that is very important.  But in the end, it will require that you settle into your own and unique way of being with your camera in the landscape.  Take away from these teachings, including this blog, only what feels comfortable and which fits in with who you are and what you feel in your heart.  Then you will have defined contemplative photography for yourself and it will fit like a glove.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote:

   John O'Donohue, that great Celtic soul that I was privileged to know, wrote eloquently on how the outer landscape is a grand metaphor for the hidden inner landscape of your soul.  His writings on Celtic spirituality have formed the foundation of my thoughts and work as a contemplative photographer.  Here is a wonderful interview he did for the radio show On Being which was recorded just a few months before his death.  I'm sure you will love listening...

The Inner Landscape of Beauty

"A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words..."

   In her wonderful blog, 365 Days of Inspiration, Kim Manley Ort wrote about the 1K Photographic Blogging Challenge.  Can you prove the old adage true and write 1000 words about one photograph?  You are not allowed to talk about "technical issues", only your personal response to the image itself.

   This is a lot easier said than done!  150, even 200 words...no problem but 1000 words...that's a lot of words!  I love to write but even I find this quite a daunting undertaking.  But the challenge is really about finding out how deeply you can immerse yourself in one image. My word for the year again!

   In the weeks ahead, I will try the challenge with a photograph I made recently.  I began with what is probably the antithesis of the 1K word challenge, a haiku...

Frozen stillness, blue

Serenity etched on ice

Solitude revealed

   As soon as I wrote the haiku I realized that it included my three favorite words...stillness, serenity and solitude!  Perhaps I could write 991 more words about this photograph after all!  What about you?  Are you up to a January photographic challenge?  Pick a recent photograph and sit with it...let the words flow...immerse yourself in the visual world you felt worthy of photographing.  It might be very revealing.

   

A Moment of Common Enchantment...

   This photograph underscores the necessity of carrying some form of camera with you no matter where you are going or for what purpose.

   I was shopping with a dear friend and my mind was not on photography in the least little bit but something caught my eye as we walked by a little stream that flows under the road in the town center.

   The rapidly moving water was not frozen but along the edge there were strings of these exquisite frozen drops...like jewels on a necklace.  I simply had to stop and photograph them!

   This is the definition of what a moment of common enchantment is for me.  It is an instance where you are brought up suddenly by an unexpected sight.  I love the phrase, "...it caught my eye".  For truly, these tiny intrusions into our life catch us unaware.  We do well to stop and allow ourselves to be transfixed, even for a brief time.

  

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

The Poetry of Place - The Pond Speaks

   My last visit to the pond in 2014, on December 30th, was a real treat.  It was very late in the day and the sunset illuminated the ridge line to the north and to the south the moon was well risen...the sun and the moon present together.  It was frigid but no wind...supremely silent until I heard the tell tale sounds of the ice contracting and "snapping".

  At first, I wasn't sure what I was hearing but then it dawned on me.  Our recent warm temperatures and rain followed by plummeting temperatures, 47 degrees F. one day, 15 degrees F. the next, was causing the ice to "sing".  It was reciting its own poetry right before me and I was delighted.

   The many holes made by the intrepid ice fishermen served as little amplifiers, letting the sound from below out.  The surrounding hills also allowed the sound to project more clearly.  I've often heard fishermen talk about this phenomenon but I personally haven't heard it for years.  The pond was giving me an especially wonderful gift this day.

All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sounds. Sounds that were previously incomprehensible to our soul now become the meaningful language of nature. ~ Rudolf Steiner 

   I've added a link to a blog which gives several examples of these ice sounds.  The video of the man sitting on the ice at a fishing hole best approximates the sounds I heard but it is louder because they are using underwater microphones.  My experience was much more subtle...just a soft whisper..but truly magical.

The Ice Speaks

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote:

   Today marks the 3rd anniversary of A Photographic Sage and I send out my sincere thanks to all my readers!  The Photographic Sage community is world-wide and growing...keep spreading the word!  May the next year bring us all wonderful gifts of images and reflections and may your soul lead you to where you need to be...always!

Cultivating the Intuitive Mind...

The intuitive mind is a sacred

gift and the rational mind its

faithful servant.  We have 

created a society that honors 

the servant and has

forgotten the gift.

- Albert Einstein

   Intuition is the sixth sense.  For this contemplative photographer, it is in many ways the most important one.  For the rationalists among us, it is dismissed totally or rationalized away as merely an unsubstantiated "feeling".  Worse still, it often includes the word "woman" in the same breath.  

   There are many kinds of intuition of course but I want to focus on the kind of intuition a photographer might employ to direct their lens.  I go to the pond, it is my "destination" but after I arrive there I allow my intuition, my trans-rational self, to guide me.  Here are a few suggestions you might try:

1. Turn down the volume on your rational mind...

   Don't establish an agenda; don't give yourself goals.  Solidly formed expectations are a sure way to assure your intuitive mind will remain silent.  

2. Don't pick up your camera right away...

   Being in a hurry to record what is around you is playing into the rational mind's agenda of getting things done.  Intuition takes time to manifest itself.  The intuitive mind is not a "workaholic" like the rational mind.  It is comfortable with inactivity and simply "beingness" and you should be too.

3. Take time to quiet your mind...

   I close my eyes for a time.  Your eyes first path is to the rational part of your mind.  By closing them you allow the other senses a chance to enter into the conversation and the other senses are more closely aligned with the intuitive mind.  

4. Trust your gut...

   Once I open my eyes I trust whatever comes into my mind.  I try not to second guess the process which is the surest sign your rational mind is still in control. If you find yourself attracted to the pile of leaves at your feet...go with it!  And, most importantly...stay with it!

   Cultivating the intuitive mind takes time and patience and most of all trust.  It is there, in all of us - men and women - and it it just waiting for the opportunity to speak to you.  But intuition is an elusive thing.  The more you try to think about it, the less likely you will be to experience it. If the rational mind is the "know-it-all" at the party, the intuitive mind is the shy one in the corner.

Dig Deeper:

    10 Things Highly Intuitive

People Do Differently

What Lights the Fire in Your Heart?

   I want to follow up on yesterday's post.  My word for this year is Immerse and I think it is synonymous with passion.  One has to have a true passion for something to immerse one's self totally in it.

   I am passionate about my books as well as my photography and Michael Green, the illustrator for the calendar of Celtic Blessings I received for Christmas, is a favorite of mine.  His book, The Illuminated Rumi is a favorite and I look at it regularly, not only to read Rumi's wisdom but to look at Michael's beautiful art work.

   Finding a passion that will ignite the heart is crucial to me.  At present, the pond and my families story are sharing heart space in me.  I will fully immerse myself in both for the foreseeable future. But at some point those two passions will reach their conclusion and I will need to find another.  I have no doubt I will because those who seek earnestly will find what they need.  It is due in part because, as Rumi says, What you seek is also seeking you.

   Open your hear to all possibilities and find your passion.  Joseph Campbell calls it "bliss" but whatever you call it or wherever you may find it, let it light a fire in your heart.  Let it be a resolve for 2015.  You will not be disappointed.

   If you would like to see more of Michael Green's work you can follow this link....