It's My Life
So this concludes the "my life" theme and I have come to a deep realization that I could take ten million pictures that depict some aspect of who I am and still not tell the full story of this infinite being. There are so many people and places and experiences that have shaped my world and that is all about the past. My current life is blessed with numerous people, places and things that hold a special place in my heart. So, for those of you who didn't make it into this week's theme, know you are loved and I am grateful to you for being a part of my life. (Lara, Nate, Mom, Dad, brothers, friends, soul sisters, colleagues, pets, and neighbors.)
In my life, there are loved ones who have come and gone, lifestyles that have come and gone, businesses that have come and gone, homes that have come and gone....And yet the core, essential "me" remains untouched by the ebbing and flowing of life itself. I AM. This body will pass and I still there will be this being, uncontained by the form.
I chose to shoot this self portrait today in one of the places where I remember my creative spirit being brought to life, the Environmental Learning Center in Fort Collins. I had a creative writing teacher in high school who understood the connection between inspiration and being in nature. She arranged for several field trips to this natural area and set the class free to roam and write. Her philosophy was akin to Ralph Waldo Emerson's, "Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul."
While I didn't fully grasp the truth of this precept, I knew as a budding young writer I had found a way to connect deeply with myself and to allow creative expression to flow freely. Being in nature freed my mind of all the rules and limitations that bound me in the class room. I felt at home.
I continue to find inspiration in nature everyday. It is, in truth, my greatest muse. It seems to me that everything in nature is a metaphor for the human experience. Beauty, growth, life, cycles, symbiosis, intention, communication, death, recycling, change, competition...
All I truly know is that when I am in nature, I am reminded that I am connected to everything, and have access to the infinite wisdom of the universe. This makes me smile on the inside.