Monochrome Maple

Good Lord! It’s been over a month since I posted anything on Aware Writer. I don’t have any new images but that’s not an excuse. I poked about in my archives and found an image that I made a few years ago in our back yard.

Click on the photo to view larger image

This is a shot of a branch from a small Japanese maple. The original came from a roll of color transparency film, but I thought the photo would be better as monochrome so I converted it. I like the photo but never posted it because there was (please note past tense here) a nasty blown highlight and a few other smaller blown highlights (in the wrong places). I looked at the image again. Hey, I can fix that and I did.

The eye is drawn to lighter tones in a photo which is why the blown highlight (pure white with no texture) ruined the image. The picture came to life once I got rid of the distractions.

The image is peaceful with a kind of Zen feeling — I like it.

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Monday Musings: Life, Ages & Mindfulness

Babies just want to become. As we get older we lose our innocence, we forget that every waking moment can be an adventure of the spirit, of discovery and settle for what is until we reach an age where we long for what was (and can never be again).

We’re young and can’t wait to grow up. We’re old and wish we were young again. Neither is possible or desirable. How can we possibly recapture the innocence of the young? Realization? Understanding? Dawning? Try mindfulness, living in the moment. It’s what babies do before we lure them out of their innocence into a life of expectations.

When we dwell on the past or worry about the future (in the words of John Daido Loori) “…we miss the moment-to-moment awareness of our life and barely notice its passing.” Life isn’t yesterday. Yesterday is gone forever and no longer exists. Life isn’t tomorrow. Tomorrow is over the horizon and doesn’t exist. Yesterday and tomorrow are head games that exist only in our minds.

Circle of life

Wheels circle round on edge
Not yet now comes past and gone
Unwinding life’s line

I wrote Circle of life (my version of a haiku) several years ago. I was inspired and mystified when pondering the rotation of the wheels as I rode my bicycle and realized that as the wheels go round and round, the tiny patch of rubber contacts the road now, in the moment.

Life is that small patch of now. Life is a journey, each moment to be savored. Through living each moment we become more. When you wash the dishes, wash the dishes. When you prepare a meal, stir the pot and inhale the aromas. When you embrace your lover, embrace your lover. Life is now. Live life now — in the moment.

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