“Within yourself is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”
Herman Hess
I’ve come to rely upon the retreats I take within and in nature. They both work for me.
Sunset Shilouette
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Sunset Shilouette -
Meadowlark
“You cannot be what nature did not intend you to be, the struggles of life come from trying to be something other than you.”
I love Meadowlarks. I think they are a very pretty bird and their song is wonderful. It is so distinct and resonates with the feeling of being happy and joyful. And, I think they are. It could be they are happy because they are living who they are, a meadowlark, and not trying to be a robin. We can learn from them. It looks like this one is working on building a nest or patching one up.
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Bluejay
Bluejay “We see quite clearly that what happens to the nonhuman happens to the human. What happens to the outer world happens to the inner world. If the outer world is diminished in its grandeur then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of the human is diminished or extinguished. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human.” Thomas Berry
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Can You Find Them?
A Few Birds I know it’s a busy image but wait. I took his image a few years ago at the Blendon Woods Metro Park in Gahanna, Ohio. They have nature center for children (that’s us) with a viewing area for birds where they have placed feeders. I would sit along the windows, elbows on the shelf and just watch. There are a total of 6 cardinals and one sparrow in the image. Can you find them?
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Yellow Birds “The contemplative does not ‘see God’; he enters into God’s seeing.” Simon Tugwell, OP
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Natures Music
Singing Meadowlark This post is a continuation of the thoughts generated from Earls post on Embracing Chaos and from Tom Dills post on Noise. We all pretty much agree there is visual chaos within nature. I would like to suggest that for some people the sounds of nature may be considered chaos while for others it can be “exalting” music. Music has been an intragel part of man early on. Man has made musical instruments from pounding on hollow logs, carving wooden flutes and violins to our modern mp3 players. Man has chanted and sang for years. Some of us have rhythm and some us struggle to keep the beat. Some can carry a tune and some can’t. I lean more towards the latter of both. When younger I took guitar lessons with aspirations of being a rock star. Due to my lack of musical talent, and dad wouldn’t let me grow my hair long, the reality of that dream quickly faded. Over the past few years listening to rock and roll, country or jazz music no longer appeals for me. I’ve moved away from listening to music or even being around it, choosing quiet or the sounds of nature. So much more enjoyment in the sounds of nature for me.
For me the sounds of nature offers a quiet where the chaotic noise of our society can’t. When March Madness started a couple of my crew members asked me to join them at Buffalo Wild Wings to eat and watch the earlier games. However, attempting to have a conversation with them over the man-made chaos of 20-30 strategically placed televisions is no longer appealing. That is chaos to me. For me the sound of wind blowing through the leaves, the meadowlarks morning song, the cadence of falling rain, or the clap of thunder from a passing storm, or the quiet of a snowfall is a soothing sound to me. Maybe I’m just getting old but it’s natures music that stirs me inside not the beat if a drum.
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Everything Changes
Flying Around I love nature. I love being in nature, listening to it, smelling it, learning from it. Yet, I spend a lot of time venturing the streets of the city with a camera. Light is what gives our images power. The direction and reflection of light will show us the lines and curves of a building. These lines will hopefully direct the viewer to see, and feel, what we felt at the moment of capture or bring forth whatever feelings from their life’s experiences. Now add a bird against the blue sky and everything changes. But it’s still all about the light.
