An invitation to Wander, led by Wonder, filled with Awe …
In Kim’s book, Adventures in Seeing: The Camera Teaches You How to Pause, Focus and Connect with Life, Kim reflects that “We can learn to see below the surface of our lives and connect in a much deeper way.” I have experienced this with my camera; for me, it’s a beautiful conduit through which my Imagination and Intuition take the lead and my mind, heart and soul willingly follow. I have come to call this experience Magical Seeing and I invite you to wander through a quick demonstration of this process with me.
The ‘magical’ part of Magical Seeing begins by stepping into Mindfulness and Presence; BEing in the moment fully, open to and ready to take in all that is around you, with no judgement, no expectation, no need to identify, define, interpret. I always look forward to time spent with my camera; it is an adventure every time.
Before we begin, please keep the following in mind: Imagination and Intuition speaks to us using the language of symbols, metaphor, emotion, memory, sight, smell, sound, insight. We explore this more deeply in the Once Upon a Time: Photographs Have Stories To Tell workshop (Session 2) – for now, imagine and feel your way through this exercise; we’ll engage the mind later.
With pen in hand and something upon which to write your impressions, look at the photograph below. Answer the questions that follow and also make note of anything else you feel or imagine while wandering through the photograph.
- What captures your attention?
- Are your eyes drawn to anything in particular? If so, what? Describe what pulls you there.
- Did a memory drift into your awareness? Describe it.
- Did a song play in your head? A scent waft up out of nowhere? A feeling or thought fill your head? Capture it all.
- Finally, on the page you are using to hold your words as you explore this photograph, write a question or situation you’ve been pondering, wondering about, struggling with, or seeking guidance on.
Share what you are comfortable sharing in the comment stream below. A format that works for me is this:
1. My impressions of, and reactions to this photograph (your answers to the questions above)
2. My question/challenge (the one you’ve been pondering, wondering about, struggling with)
3. Gathering the clues (review your impressions and reactions – what do you make of what you now see?)
4. The story this photograph told to me (put it all together – what message does this photograph hold for you?)
I have included my impressions/reactions to this photograph, and my question/challenge, in the comment stream below. I will share my Clue Gathering and the Story I Was Told after others have had a chance to participate in the exercise.
Kim and I will be checking in, and we will respond to any questions you may have, and to what you share, from an intuitive place; we’ll follow your vision and experience of the photograph and will share anything else we may see that may add value to your story.
Okay, are you ready? Let’s go …
My impressions of, and reactions to, this photograph:
I was struck by the waves, the ripples, the reflections, the beauty and the colours. I saw light and felt a sense of resonance; almost like the photo was visually depicting resonating energy.
I thought of water colours, a gentle flow, sand art and inner radiance.
I heard the song ‘Color Everywhere’. https://youtu.be/IeYb-ihiLLs
I felt like something was calling to me and felt I was looking at ‘the power of that which is not seen.’ I felt myself moving toward the path, that beautiful purplish path. The jewel tones in the photograph captured me completely.
My question/challenge: I have been making more space in my life to honour my key values of Creativity and Spirituality. I’m not quite sure how to step more fully into these aspects from the way I am operating my life now.
I would say that you are already on that path, Sally, and that the ripples you’re seeing and the resonance you’re feeling is your own radiance touching what’s before you every day. Trust that gentle flow. What you are doing in your work and with your family is rich.
Thank you! I love what you see.
So, for me, I was drawn immediately to the band of gold (or path of gold). My eye goes from the right side of the frame up to the top middle. I wonder where this path is going. Should I be on it? From my vantage point, I’m separated from it by the blue water and large rock. The song, Band of Gold, came to mind – “all that’s left is a band of gold.” My question/challenge – how can I be on a path that’s deeply experiential?
Hi Kim – thank you for sharing your experience of the photograph; in the event that you might like a bit more information before determining the story this photograph has to tell you – I will share with you the following.
Do you see the path as linear? I ask, because there are a few ways to interpret the word ‘band’; one of which is ‘a stripe or elongated area of a different colour, texture or composition than its surroundings.’ In the photograph, you’ll note that the straight lines are interrupted in two places with beautiful, brightly lit, fluid, waves. In these places, I see another interpretation of the word ‘band’; a group of people working together. It also brings to mind the wisdom that suggests ‘there are some places we must go alone.’
Three shining statements stood out for me in your response: ‘should I be on it?’, ‘I’m separated’ and ‘how can I be on a path that’s deeply experiential?’.
Might your belief that you’re not yet on a path that is deeply experiential be leading you to the feeling, and vantage point, that you are separated from the experiential path? ‘All that’s left is a path of gold’ does not bear witness to the bright, wavy, spaces where something is clearly being experienced differently. How might your story unfold if you were to step on the large rock, follow the swirls, tree reflections cheering you on, and discover for yourself where the path is going?
What I love about this path is that there is space for both ‘walking alone’ and ‘grooving with others.’
1. My eyes were drawn to the liquid road through the water to a land road, how it seems both solid and ribbon-like. The white wiggly patterns that bisect it come to a near point, tipped by a round shape so that I imagine the face of an animal in the brown, outlined by the white, maybe a fox with exaggerated round nose. But I’m also drawn to a small circle left of that “road”. It’s like a little whirlpool or vortex or keyhole window. I smell pine and cedar, and I’m reminded of paths I loved to walk, both sandy and strewn with pine needles, not far from Lake Michigan, in a sanctuary in northern Wisconsin.
2. What lies beneath? This is a question I’m pondering with some creative work, but it’s a question I often explore in life.
3. I love the way real images/scenes can become abstract or flow back and forth in our “seeing” between representation and pattern, shape, color. I love that flow.
4. Symbolically, the story the photo told me was that there is a way to cross a divide, a pathway that may be hidden but can reveal itself in the right conditions. Realistically, this image could be of a typically dry river or creek bed that can usually be crossed (like an arroyo here in NM) but is now flooded (such as arroyos are in monsoon season).
Thanks for this marvelous meditative exercise!!
Janet, I can’t tell you how much I appreciated your post; sometimes words are simply not adequate enough to express how I feel.
I loved seeing this photograph from your perspective. How wonderful you saw a fox in the image – thank you for that. I felt compelled to Google ‘Fox Symbolism’ (sometimes when others see things I don’t – I wonder why and source information as a result.) I’ve copied below what resonated with me regarding Fox guidance. (If you wish to take this further, Google ‘fox symbolism’ or ‘fox as totem’ to see if anything resonates with you.)
‘What lies beneath?’ and and your description of flow really resonated with me; as did your acknowledging of hidden pathways.
I will now entertain the question your vision has posed for me: what are the right conditions in which a hidden pathway may reveal itself?
Thank you.
Fox Symbolism:
The fox encourages us to think outside of the box and use our intelligence in different, creative ways. The fox also brings us a message to try to approach our circumstances differently that we normally would. Be aware of some of our habits, and try a different angle of action.
The fox is a sign to be mindful of our surroundings.
Phenomenally effective shapeshifters and incredibly adaptable, the fox beckons us to not make too many waves but rather, adapt to our surroundings, blend into it, and use our surroundings (and circumstances) to our advantage.
The fox symbolism is so interesting. It seems, Janet, that what you are doing with your Art and Soul project fits this description. What we need now are more shapeshifters.
Kim, the shapeshifter notion is very insightful. Thanks, too, for feeling a connection to my Art & Soul Shorts. You and Sally do thoughtful intuitive teaching!
Thank you for these insights and the great question to hold onto about right conditions. I,too, looked up the fox in my animal guide books. I love the layers of ways this exercise engaged me. Thank you!
Janet, thank you for sharing this post in the Tracking Wonder Quest Howl-Out stream; I’m grateful for your generosity and thoughtfulness. I actually stopped in there to see if I could find out anything about your Art and Soul Shorts; so glad I did – what beautiful and powerful work you’re offering. I have sent you a Facebook friend request as I would love to expose myself to more Art and I really connect with your soulful reflections. I’m also glad I I was led there as after reading your reflection – I met the answer to the question your initial post in this thread left me with.
What are the right conditions in which a hidden pathway may reveal itself? When you walk with with Spirit, letting your Soul take the lead – you’ll never confuse it with more visible paths, though they wear the same disguise.
Sally, Thanks for your feedback on my Art & Soul Shorts. I hope you’ll join in sometime; photos welcome. YES to the answer you received about walking with Spirit. I love this co-creative process here, how insights are shared between and for all. I’ll check for your FB request. Would be happy to Friend you!
Sally, my comment below was for you. Sorry I left out your name!
Gathering the clues:
Beauty and Light is an ongoing theme and pattern in my life; I see it everywhere I look, when I’m looking for it. And when I’m open, present, and mindful – it calls to me and I follow the gentle pull of its whisper.
The jewel tones spoke to me the loudest; so vibrant, glorious and breathtaking. This made me think of Crystals – and so, I Googled a Crystals Guide to see what crystals best resembled the colours I was responding to; the brown, the gold, the purple, the indigo blue.
Brown Jasper – a sacred and powerful stone of protection for healers of spirit. It’s a stone of courage and wisdom often used by magicians and poets. It keeps one down-to-earth and induces tranquility.
Creedite – rare and deeply spiritual, stone of the light, promotes a gentle, expansive awareness. This stone deepens connection and channels to creative visualization and receiving inspiration; purifies the heart. White Creedite activates energetic fields; shifts base resonance to a higher vibration.
Amethyst – carries the energy of fire and passion, creativity and spirituality while bearing the logic of temperance and sobriety. Its beauty transcends its commonality. A stone of spirituality and contentment; creates a shield of light around the body.
Tanzanite – stone of transmutation, valuable for spiritual exploration, communication and psychic power. It helps unite the mind and heart; teaches one to live from a compassionate heart with an illumined mind.
The story this photograph told to me:
You have the power to sense what is not seen. You are drawn, and respond, to Beauty, Radiance and Light. You gently walk the path of spiritual exploration and use resonance as your guide. Keep walking, continue listening, embrace the wonder, and the magic, in the way that you see.
I am going to find the crystals noted above and keep them in sight as reminders of the energy they bring.
Janet – see how similar the story my photograph told to me is to what I got from the Art Short you posted called Wild?
“What are the right conditions in which a hidden pathway may reveal itself? When you walk with with Spirit, letting your Soul take the lead – you’ll never confuse it with more visible paths, though they wear the same disguise.”
Sally, I strongly connect to stones and crystals. I have tons of books about them and many different kinds of stones in special places in my house. I am thrilled to see how your photograph connected to my Art & Soul Short. There is such flow here. Isn’t there? And your photo and exercise just led me into places in my next Art & Soul Short (see the post Friday!) that I don’t think I’d have gone. Plus, my new short connected to the first meeting of my new writing group, where she had tons of synchronicity and co-creative energy. This is the great generative force of artists connecting and sharing. Love, love it. Thanks to you and Kim!
The first thing that caught my attention was the blue, then the trees, the dark gold “path”, the rock in the foreground, the path that looks like it goes uphill out of the frame at the top of the photo. The blue sky reflection draws me in and then I look deeper into the trees, trying to see what else might be there. I could be standing on that rock as I spend much time staring at reflections in water when I can. I remember other times and other reflections where I just want to go into this space that is not of this world. I feel a sense of anticipation, maybe for an adventure, a possibility of being somewhere or going somewhere that excites me. The dark gold solid band of color looks like a road that leads to the opposite bank, to the path that goes beyond. Maybe I can jump from my rock and take that path to get to the place reflected. My question to myself is “What am I looking for? Is it here or there? Do I need to stay or go?”
Mary, thanks so much for sharing your experience with this image. I notice that you mention the reflections quite a bit. The blue sky reflection draws you in. You spend a lot of time staring at reflections, wanting to go into a space not of this world, to get to the place reflected. Maybe this is a reflection (no pun intended) of your sense of adventure. Or, maybe your desire to see more deeply from wherever you are.
I do love adventures, being in the moment experiencing some new place or thing. I want to be a bird in my next life! Flying Everywhere! I don’t think I look for deeper meaning as I am happy with the moments that are given to me.
Hi Mary. I really relate to your experience with water reflections; I’m captivated by it too and find that the world around me as it is reflected in water is featured in the majority of my photographs. As I immerse into the beauty of what I stand before, I wonder, “which is really real? Are the trees, the paths, the rocks and all that appears on the earth’s surface for all to see all there is? Or is Nature’s beauty a conduit through which those of us who yearn to experience the true essence of Nature, and each other, can be transported to the humbling wonder of an essence whispering to us in the ripples, the nuances of colour, texture, shadow, light, the swirls and the beautiful dream-like state in which it is all represented?”
The photographs you share always speak to my Soul; the beauty, the moments in time and that something more – the essence you are able to communicate feels good. The ‘Still Life’ photos you create captures the essence of individual items of beauty as a collective, creating a new level of emotional appeal. And gosh, there are so many ways to interpret Still Life.
I feel, for you ~ you always know what you’re looking for as soon as you see it and you then experience its wonder in the moment, bearing witness to the beautiful essence it holds within. I feel, for you, it is here AND there. And that you need to stay AND go. Why choose? – to do so would limit you and all that you bring to this world. You definitely CAN jump from the rock and take that path to get to the place reflected – and you will then share that experience in a way that lets other know that such wonder is possible.
Sally, thank you for giving me some things to think on. I am glad that you share my joy in what I photograph as everything speaks to me in its own voice. I really never know what I am looking for..I just wait for it to find me! I sometimes feel an invisible thread from an object to my heart. Taking a photo keeps that thread connected.