An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
“We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.”
Thomas Merton
I’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.
Thomas Merton: “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” Strive each day to be who you really are.
“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 Merton
I 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.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton
I’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:
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 book store today.
“Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.” Thomas Merton
As time has move on and my age has increased I joyfully welcome my times of solitude. We can create a place in our homes to sit in quiet solitude to start and end our days. With our busy and noisy world I also seek to find places outside the community of cities and towns. I can find these places in our parks, both local and national. To some this bench may seem lonely while shrouded by fog but it is offering rest to anyone who wishes to sit.
It is useless to try to make peace with ourselves by being pleased with everything we have done. In order to settle down in the quiet of our own being we must learn to be detached from the results of our own activity. We must withdraw ourselves, to some extent, from effects that are beyond our control and be content with the good will and the work that are the quiet expression of our inner life. We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without any instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition.
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton