Tag: BEAUTY
Can’t Fight Gravity

Can’t Fight Gravity

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Perfect stillness. That was my experience as I laid under a clear sky with stars, planets, galaxies, and nebula sparkling overhead. The air was still. The woods were still. Not a crackle in the leaves from animals on their night journeys. I was still. At peace. Calm from my core.

A little over a year ago I started using a Seestar telescope, which is an amazing gadget that takes images of deep space objects without complicated setups with regular telescopes and cameras. And the images turn out fine for what I want. It was easy learning to use it with the help of YouTube and a little study. What wasn’t easy was learning how to be still and patient as the telescope gathered photons. And I was shocked at my discomfort.

I’ve photographed the night sky for decades, but in the last year took my passion for nocturnal sky adventures to a deeper level. At first, a five minute image was a stretch as I wanted to explore more and see more and jump to the next target. But then, as I learned to sink into myself deeper, I became fascinated with the details that an hour-long image revealed. Or gasp, an even longer exposure. 

My skills for landscape astrophotography have expanded as well. I started programming my camera remote and setting it up with a lens warmer (to prevent dewy fogging) and power bank and let my Nikon capture star trails as the Earth rotates. As the camera and little telescope do their thing, I’ve learned to be still.

By relaxing and observing the night sky, I’ve seen amazing meteors that I would have missed had I been staring at my screen, looking for the next target to image. But more than that, I’ve seen a calmer side of myself that I really, really like.

Earth rotates making the stars and planets appear to move and what I’ve learned to do is let this magnificent planet carry me without trying to force myself to go faster or fight against gravity. As if. Who else out there on this spinning blue sphere has tried to defeat gravity by operating at break-neck speed with your mind? When we do that, we live in a constant fight with space and time. And I think we all know what will win. 

Last night I celebrated the stars, planets, galaxies, nebula, and the surrender to stillness…to gravity…I’ve found within myself. And it felt really good.
Remember the Light

Remember the Light

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When you gaze into the clear night sky, the perception is there is darkness and only pinpoints of light. But when you take photographs of the night sky, a fundamental truth is revealed: It’s mostly light. So much light!

I regularly set up my tripod and camera and program my remote to continuously fire 10 to 20 second shots until my battery runs out, I’m too cold to continue, or clouds arrive. By doing this with the correct exposure, I capture the rotation of the Earth. It appears as star trails…and planet trails…when I stack those images in Photoshop. Streams of light are the reality!

Even though life can seem really dark, when we look closely those pinpoints of light, glowing in so many hearts, they become like fireworks of love all over the planet.

When I stand under the firmament and gaze into the heavens, my life is changed for the better. Every. Single. Time. 

Don’t think that because it looks dark, all is lost. Light is growing and continues to grow as we open our hearts and allow our lights to shine.
The Two Sides of Gratitude

The Two Sides of Gratitude

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We often hear to be grateful and to state our gratitude by saying thank you. In my contemplation this morning, I heard to add something to that statement of gratitude that will help me be more mindful and will show me another side to gratitude.

When I feel gratitude for something, add a statement that acknowledges and identifies what I am receiving and then add that I am grateful for it. For instance, “I receive the love of my friends through their invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and I am grateful,” or “I receive the light-up stocking caps and the care from my friends and I am grateful.” The idea is to recognize what I am receiving before simply saying thank you.

By stating that I am receiving something, it helps me be more mindful and shows how abundantly I am loved by friends, family, the Universe. It’s easy to say I’m grateful for this or that, but when I state that I am receiving something, it amplifies the gratitude. And I’m not saying I’ll do this out in public (but who knows) but rather make it a personal practice. 

Stating that I receive something opens me to receive it on a deeper level and therefore deepens my gratitude.

“I receive electricity because someone is monitoring its production so families are warm…and I am grateful.”

“I receive a phone call from my daughter because she cares about me…and I am grateful.”

“I receive a hug from my hound because he loves me…and I am grateful.”

“I receive an order for my books because my friend loves me and supports my work…and I am grateful.”

“I receive the beauty of these mountains…and I am grateful.”

“I receive the beauty of the stars…and I am grateful.”

“I receive the bounty of the Universe…and I am grateful.”

Recognizing and naming what I am receiving helps me see…opens me…expands my awareness of the bounty of my life. I receive this bounty and I am deeply grateful.
Awe

Awe

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There’s a book written on awe and how good it is for us to experience it. Tonight, I left the comfort and warmth of my bed after 10pm because I checked the KP index and it was 9…which is very high and is good news for aurora lovers. I put on snow pants, my big down jacket and grabbed my iPhone. I peeked outside and sure enough, there was a faint red glow. So I grabbed my tripod and got a couple nice shots and realized I had to go into the woods with open fields with north facing views. And am I EVER glad I did.

It’s not easy to go out in below freezing temperatures, but to chase dancing colors in the sky, I had to take the chance.

I went to some fields I know on public land and parked beside the road in three different locations and got some great foreground for variety and saw pillars of light as the color and shape changed from moment-to-moment. Elk were EVERYWHERE at the park entrance which added to the magic but made navigation through the herd quite interesting.

No need to carry on and on about the experience. Let me simply say it was worth spending two hours in below freezing temperatures to witness this and capture the beauty…in some small way.

Sometimes it’s so worth leaving my comfort zone to go explore beauty. I highly recommend it.
The Door is Open

The Door is Open

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My hound often sits outside the pet door and barks to come inside….when the door has the solid panel removed. I’ll say, “Come on Vernon, the door is open!” And after a few minutes of thought, or something akin to thought, he comes through and climbs into his purple leather recliner. 

This morning, one of my cats did Vernon’s version of ‘the door is locked and I can’t get in.’ So I told her, “The door is open!” And she came inside.

This was an unusual behavior as Tawanda is super-smart (not saying Vernon isn’t super-smart…his nose is beyond intelligent). Any time something unusual happens, I stop and pay attention. Especially after the contemplation I had this morning.

I kept hearing: The door is open. Walk through! So I wrote it down and put the paper beside my computer. As I begin the work day, the paper kept staring at me and I remembered a story I shared at a book event this weekend.

I was hiking with a friend up Alum Cave trail to LeConte Lodge. There is a point where the trail flattens out after nearly five miles of climbing. The higher altitude forest opens up and it’s pure magic. Thick carpets of green moss, the smell of balsam fir, beautiful spruce and fir trees create a wonderland of beauty. On our way back from the lodge, I stopped and pulled out a flute and stood in the forest and said… ‘this is for you…thank you.’ 

As I played the melody, I felt my heart open and then a rush of energy move through me that brought me to tears. There was such connection with the forest. I felt it on a cellular level. 

As we hiked down, I contemplated the experience and realized the only thing keeping us from being in such profound harmony with life is ourselves. The forest is always there…open, strong, beautiful. We simply have to open our hearts to feel that Oneness.

In the book event with my friend and writer, Thomas Rain Crowe, I described the forest and flute moment and how I realized that the only thing keeping us from experiencing Oneness was ourselves. And the ‘fix’ is to open our hearts. 

To be in Oneness, to feel love and connection, we simply have to open ourselves. We’ve spent years building walls of protection and it was smart to do that when we were kids and trying to grow up and find our way. But as adults, those walls keep us from connecting. We can become addicted to adding to and stabilizing those walls, reinforcing them, to keep ourselves safe. But then, our world becomes smaller and scarier because we’re repeating our fears over and over. The way out of that fear cycle is to find ways to open again. For me, it’s with animals and forests…rivers, the night sky. When I dare to open my heart and listen to the forest, the rivers, wild animals and my own four-legged kiddos, I find I hear again and again, “The Door is open! Walk through!”

—

Misery is found in our self-created prison. 

We sit inside the cell and carve days into walls of stone

As the rusted, open door of iron bars silently waits.

A beam of light illuminates the opening

And we marvel at the beauty of it sparkling 

In the dungeon of our shadows.

It whispers, The Door is open. Walk through.

By the magic of grace, we walk through the open door

Of our heart and know freedom.

The Door is open. Walk through!