Simone Lipscomb Photography Archives

What if…we save ourselves

By Simone Lipscomb | November 3, 2020

What if the Second Coming is within our own hearts. What if the trumpets we hear awaken us to do the work of the heart. What if the master Jesus gave us everything we needed to awaken consciously and now it’s up to us to awaken to those teachings of compassion and love.

I suspect as a race of beings we have gone as far down as we can go in the evolution of consciousness and there is no need to list our faults. Look around. See the destruction, lack of empathy, lack of compassion and greed and desire for more material ‘things’ at any cost.

Yet….we also have an amazing capacity for selfless action, love, care, compassion. So we know absolutely it is within our reach to embody what was taught by the master Jesus.

No president or government will save us. The change we seek is deep within each of us. No exception. It is time to stop screaming and pointing fingers and do the hard work of self-transformation….that is if we actually want to change.

It’s time to put our egos on the altar of sacrifice, to release judgment of others and embody the change we wish to know in our communities, in our nation.

We were given the keys to the kingdom. Let us not squander that amazing gift.

What if we save ourselves.

the simple things

By Simone Lipscomb | October 21, 2020

When life is finished for each of us I predict the simple things will be what we treasure. The time the sunrise was pink and lavender; the morning the clouds were cotton candy pink; the time the spotted dolphin brought her baby up to me and used sonar to vibrate my headache away; the humpback whale that did yoga with me before sunrise 90 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic; the moment I held my daughter for the first time; that time I lived through what I thought I couldn’t.

I wonder why we tend to make life much more complicated than it needs to be. Why we accumulate ‘stuff’ and work so hard to get more when the accumulated ‘stuff’ isn’t what builds the real foundation of a full and amazing life. At least it isn’t for me.

The bull elk stood and made eye contact with me…or was it the cow in the meadow? It doesn’t matter….all I know is how my heart felt when we were face-to-face.

That time the manatee rolled and farted…who could forget that? I snorted so much water in my flooded mask from laughing and this dead-pan ‘little’ friend just carried on gazing into his own beautiful reflection in my dome port. Now that’s a good memory.

The accumulation of stuff requires so much energy that there’s little left over to actually enjoy life.

The investment I’ve made has been more in travel and exploring. My grandfather told me a couple years before he died that his one regret was not traveling when he and my grandmother were healthy enough to go. So I took his advice to heart and used money he gifted me through his death to travel to many places. That has brought joy and filled my heart with gratitude.

I remember sitting at a burial tomb in Ireland with nobody else around because it started raining. I sat there and played a newly-purchased Irish low whistle with gratitude to the ancestors. I witnessed clouds roll around the small area and the storm parted as if in response to my acknowledgment. I won’t ever forget that.

It was worth arising long before sunrise to drive to an overlook in the Smoky Mountain National Park to witness pink and lavender skies. As I invest in connecting with Nature with my heart and whole self I find richness filling my life in ways a fat bank account never could. It’s really that simple for me.

Be A Light

By Simone Lipscomb | February 14, 2017

Lessons from a Sting Ray

By Simone Lipscomb | June 22, 2016

Taking underwater photographs in bad viz is not something I’d normally attempt. Murky water and strobes yield backscatter. But when there’s opportunity to play with stingrays….

The challenge brought by unclear water is to make the subject appear clear when everything around it is filled with particles of sand and grass and anything else stirred into the soupy mix. In the creative process of underwater photography, you have to be willing to use your skills or learn new ones to achieve the desired results.

Life is like that. We want it to be obstacle-free. And yet, it’s the obstacles that hone our skills and help us develop into well-balanced individuals. If it was easy we’d never feel our strength. A diamond doesn’t become a precious gem without immense pressure. It’s the pressure that turns a lump of carbon into a valuable stone.

Moods of the Gulf

By Simone Lipscomb | February 23, 2015

*Gulf of Mexico iPhone photograph feb 22, 2015*

Warm morning temperatures called me to the Gulf yesterday and within a few minutes of checking the ambient temperature–63 degrees–my feet were splashing through chilly water. I didn’t take my camera so I could simply lose myself in the wild beauty but sometimes an iPhone gets the idea across when it’s just too beautiful not to take a photograph.

*Sunset Gulf Shores, Alabama 2014 with iPhone*

I grew up on the Alabama Gulf Coast and loved it but moved away at various times of my life. The latest time living away from the beach was a span of almost 20 years. While I loved the mountains of North Carolina, I am most happy here, where my blood resonates with the salt of the sea…or maybe Bonaire which is my home away from home. I’ve been back home almost three years…is that POSSIBLE? It’s a great place to live but don’t tell anybody!

The Gulf of Mexico is a wild body of water that can appear soft and gentle as well as wild in a crazed frenzy. Whatever the mood, I love this beautiful body of water that is part of the One Ocean and am happy that I can have my toes in wet sand with just a short drive.

The mountains are still dear to me and are a refuge for me, but the open horizon of the Gulf of Mexico and the system of waterways connected with it are magic for my wild self.