What a patch of roadside weeds taught me about paying attention. Bristle Grass (Setaria species) One of the world’s earliest grains, bristle grass sustained ancient civilizations in Asia, and served as a resilient food source in dry, marginal lands. Today, it serves as forage for livestock and seed for birds. Their hardy growth helps prevent […]
A quiet morning revealed the difference between doing and simply being In the wee small hours of the morning, while the whole wide world is fast asleep… The rain has stopped. The streets are fresh and warm. The sky is clear. The day begins to form… The opening lyric to these favorite songs conveys the sensibility […]
How a television screen illustrates the mystery of pure potential The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me. Meister Eckhart Have you ever become so absorbed in a movie that you completely forgot the screen it was projected on? We laugh. We cry. We become frightened. We […]
Contemplative photography promotes silence, renewal, and seeing more deeply On the evening this photograph was made, the dominant sound in this airport parking lot was birds—a stark contrast to the busyness and clamor of cars, shuttle-busses and conversations that once pervaded it day and night for several years. The difference between the activity then and […]
What we are not, can reveal what we are in essence Every photograph I’ve ever made is a portrait of impermanence. After the shutter clicks, the subject changes. The light grows brighter or darker. A cloud moves. A flower fades. A child grows older. A face changes. Even mountains—given enough time—rise and disappear. Photography teaches […]
One Individual’s Expression Matters Do you see the jetliner? Remove any one of the pixels in the above image and there would be a hole in the whole (photograph). It wouldn’t be complete. It wouldn’t be the same photograph. Some might say it would have a flaw. The universe presents itself to us as a […]
Finding Meaning, Purpose, and Wholeness Through the Evolution of Consciousness In The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness. Arthur C. Brook says many today, especially young people, are experiencing a growing sense of emptiness. There’s a lack of purpose and significance Loneliness, anxiety and dissatisfaction are on the rise I’s […]
The Seeds We Water Are The Ones That Grow Over time, a species of tree that evolved into the maple did so in part because it succeeded in finding a way to disburse numerous seeds over a greater distance. As kids we called them “pinwheels” or “helicopter seeds.” Hedging no bets in the area of […]
Collaboration, Courage, and Consciousness are Shaping Humanity’s Future The spiral stairway in this image evokes in me considerations of the evolutionary spiral, the universe’s operating system, which scientists understand to “favor” increased novelty, diversity, adaptation, complexity and order. Along the bottom steps of the oil tank, I see the significant ordering that has already occurred. […]
What the Butterfly Reveals About Humanity’s Painful Transformation My contemplations tend to focus on the present. They’re usually prompted by one of my photographs, the social climate, or patterns in current events—what people are talking about online or in person. For these I generally write with a “closeup” or “normal” lens. This topic requires something […]
Contemplative Photography 