Tag: Simone Lipscomb Photography
Perspective

Perspective

By |

There’s a Native American story called Jumping Mouse. It’s about the transformation from seeing the details to the point of losing your Vision to rising above the details to gain perspective–growing from Mouse to Eagle.

Often I wonder about my Vision. I’ve always wanted to be of service to the evolution of consciousness on this beautiful planet. Different roles have contributed…state park naturalist, mental health counselor, and massage therapist/instructor but throughout those careers has been a thread of photography, music and writing. And those three foundations are where I offer my gifts to the world.

It’s easy for me to get so focused on the details…how to get my work out into the world, how to earn money doing the work I love, how to keep creating when I have no way of knowing if the work goes beyond my computer or social media page. I wonder sometimes…am I doing all I can do?

It’s necessary to gain perspective by rising about the Mouse details, the myopic vision of just this little cabin and my little mind. Today I did this by soaring into the sky and seeing where I was standing from a totally different view. I became Eagle.

As Eagle I saw my passion and desire to help this beautiful planet and all life here. Even though I looked small, I saw the bigness of my Spirit as it wants to serve the greater good. And perhaps most importantly, I saw that amazing transformation from mundane to spiritual as the beauty of the land and water and trees turned into natural art that went beyond the individual components to a unified whole. A beautiful Oneness.

When I find myself questioning the Vision, wondering ‘if,’ I will remember to rise above the little questions and see the Big Picture from the perspective of Eagle. And then, I will remember that each of us is part of a greater whole…we are One. Every good thought and action makes a difference. Every. Single. One.
Creativity

Creativity

By |

Creating something from nothing is an act of magic. It is an act of courage. We move into the realm of possibility when we surrender to the force of creativity.

And it is a force. But what is it that calls us to tap into that force? What moves us from ideas into action?

I imagine a gigantic cauldron of star dust, a cosmic soup, that contains every possible particle of the creative process. I lean over the cauldron and dare to look into its depths and touch the surface with my finger. It ripples and boils with potential and invites me to dip my hands into its richness. I stir that soup of infinity and watch as ideas bubble to the surface. Yes….that! And that! Oh, wow, look at that!With gratitude I enfold the ideas into a medicine bag for safe keeping and journey back to waking consciousness, ready to create.

It’s easy to ignore the creative ideas that enter our minds. It takes courage to follow through and even more courage to share what we create with others. But here’s the thing: the act of creating changes the world for the better, even if we never share it with another soul.

So here’s an invitation to dip into the cosmic soup, lovingly take the ideas that surface and use them to create something simply for the fun of it. When we do this we change the world.

To see more of my creations, please visit my website and explore the BOOKS page, SPIRIT MEDICINE DESIGN page and PHOTOGRAPHY page.

The Magic of Memories

The Magic of Memories

By |

The other day a friend of mine commented how a video on the Fontana Lake Cleanup brought back such good, childhood memories for him. As my canine companion, Buddy, and I walked at Deep Creek today I reflected on my happiest childhood memory.

My immediate family, mom’s sister and her family, grandparents, aunt and uncle and another extended family went to the Smokies together…14 of us in total. One day in particular was amazing. My cousins, brother and I went tubing on Deep Creek. The water was so cold yet I couldn’t bring myself to get out. Our parents were watching from the picnic tables and we were having a big time.

Before my dad got sick and before all of the adulting there was this magical time in the mountains that became my most treasured memory of family.

When I was feeling the pull back to the mountains, I was trying to find a place around Asheville, where I had lived before, or Black Mountain and there was absolutely nothing that worked. My house in Alabama was getting attention but nothing was working out for a sale. For over 18 months I looked and looked and couldn’t believe the dumps with high prices for sale around Asheville. 

So I finally got a contract on my home and had to find a place. As I drove past the sign for Dillsboro, Sylva and Cherokee on my way to Asheville, I heard a question: Where did you always want to live as a child? But I was worried that living an hour away from Asheville would be difficult and too scary to start over…again…far from everyone I knew. But as it happened, a cousin saw my social media post about looking once again in the Asheville area for a home and he said, You gotta meet our cousin in Sylva. And in the end, it was that question I heard that opened my mind to hearing what my Sylva cousin had to say about the area.

Yesterday I sat at the dining table in my little cabin and gazed out at the mountain ridge of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I live here, I said aloud. My childhood dream realized. Eight miles via the back way into the Deep Creek area from my door…that’s how close I live to my happiest childhood memory.

It’s hard to always know what calls us to certain places. But this time around, I felt I owed it to myself to align with the happiest place I remembered. My love for the area grows as I celebrate my one year anniversary here in five days. There are other reasons I’m here and I’ll share those in another blog, but for today I’m smiling at those treasured, magical memories.