“If you wish to fly, you must let go of the things that weigh you down.” ~Toni Morrison
While traveling to San Antonio this week, I wanted to let down and relax but didn’t feel I could because I still had this blog to write. The topic would be based on Toni Morrison’s quote above: letting go, lightening up the load, and enjoying life a little more.
As I drove down the highway with my mind occupied with thought, it occurred to me that I was in the center of precisely the topic of this blog post. Unfortunately, I myself had wrapped myself up in things that were weighing me down instead of letting go and enjoying a bit of free time.
So today I’m going heed Toni Morrison’s quote above; let go, enjoy this time away, and let whatever I do today be enough.
Try it. It’s freeing!
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I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.
~John Muir
Did you know that John Muir lost his sight for a segment of his life? His right eye was punctured and the left eye sank into “sympathetic” blindness after a factory accident. He described it as the ‘darkest time of his life’.
One of his friends wrote an encouraging letter to him during that dark time saying: “God gave you ‘the eye within the eye, to see the realized ideas of His mind .“
I think we’ve all experienced a segment of time like this – we may not have lost our sight physically, but we’ve experienced darkness. It’s then that we need to move inward to our ‘Eye within the eye.’
Join me for a walk today. Move inward and merge with the pleasure of nature…
This is an excerpt from our book “The Art of Being Alive“, a photographic journey of inner reflection.
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“Inward is not a direction. Inward is a dimension.”
~Sadhguru Jaggi
Here’s a quick mid-week boost.
Many times in a day we find ourselves worrying about what others are thinking, regretting the past, fearing the future. These interruptions cause blockage so we can’t be all that we can be.
This tension exists because we reach out before reaching in, leaving our souls crying for attention.
Just for a minute right now shut everything else out and listen. What do you hear? Wide open and receptive, we can interact directly with the world with our wisdom guiding us.
Move inward to the Spirit within before you move outward to the world.
“For direction, look within.”
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“Let your life dance lightly on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.”
~Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore’s quote is invigorating, but ‘dancing lightly’ is easier said than done.
We hold on to things, and these ‘things’ weigh us down. We can take some lessons from nature, though. Watching nature’s consistent repetition – the way dawn follows darkness, flow follows ebb, and winter turns to spring. Day by day, year by year, this constant rhythm is a reminder for us also to release; Let go of what no longer serves us as gently as a tree surrenders its leaves, preparing for a new season.
This idea of ‘releasing’ inspired me one morning when I was out photographing after a night of fresh rain.
On this particular morning, I walked on a trail along the Poudre River where I live. The fields sparkled as they reacted to the warming sunshine.
Looking at the grasses through my camera, I noticed with a slight shift of my lens, a speck of sunlight appeared through the dewdrops, adding extra flavor to the scene.
It didn’t take much, just a subtle realignment on my part for an added spark of enchantment.
That was an enlightening moment for me. It struck me that any situation on earth can be difficult, mediocre, even meaningless, but a gentle shift of attention or a slight adjustment of attitude can transform the circumstance into a surprising outcome.
Unleash yourself from the burdens that hold you back and give full attention to the moment. This slight shift of mindset can create the space to discover profound new experiences in life.
“If you wish to fly, you must let go of the things that weigh you down.”
~Toni Morrison
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“No difficulty can dishearten the man who has acquired the art of being alive.”
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox
2020 was long year, and I think we’re all ready to begin again. The pandemic began slow and spread so quickly that it cracked the world into pieces. God used the opportunity to wedge between the cracks, infiltrate, widen the space, loosen up the pace, and create TIME.
Time had disappeared.
The world was forced to slow down and reinvent itself from its entanglement.
And now it’s time to return.
This is as close as I could get to my mom in a year. It’s time for all of us to begin again.
This hardship changed the way we knew life. It changed communication, commerce, and connection. It changed humanity.
The reentry into civilization will place us in a world that demands different things from us, and like a prisoner after incarceration, it’s going to take some internal work – an adjustment in mindset to begin again.
We’re all in the same situation though. Emerging. We’re coming back with shaky legs and squinted eyes and we’re going to just wing it for awhile, tiptoeing until we find our way again.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could enter into the world with more kindness and empathy to ourselves and to each other as we begin again?
I wrote a book during this time of seclusion: ‘THE ART OF BEING ALIVE’, and it’s about just that –LIVING.
It’s an inspiring photo essay that allegorically ties the art of life with the art of photography through photos, insights and inspiring quotes.
This book will be released on March 20th with the symbolical intention of a fresh start to life.
The book will be released on March 20th– the first day of spring with the intention of signifying a fresh start –letting go of the past and moving forward. My hope is that it will entertain, inspire, and help with this resurgence into life.
I don’t want this post to be an advertisement, but I did want to make you aware that it’s on the way as we begin to rebuild our lives from the traumas of 2020.
The Art of Living 