Another Year? Are you sure?

Here we are spinning in circles in an endless sea of milk. Yep. Just this little ole' planet amongst googols of other planets, stars, and other stuff. Like a tiny particle of matter surrounded by somethingness.

We measure times around the Sun by celebrating the last moments of December 31st as it moves into the first moments of January 1st. One more of our Earth years has passed, another begins. It doesn't matter that we will soon call it 2010, we're way off. That's just a number we can fit on our checks.

There is no next year, no end of one year and the beginning of another. It is a continuum. A gradual transition from what it was, to what it is, to what it shall be.

I suppose if you were to start a new year it would be on the winter equinox, when daylight hours have gotten to their shortest and begin to get longer. Or maybe the 'new' year starts at the summer equinox. Doesn't really matter, as long as we get a day off!

HAPPY DAY OFF!

Whether you decide to begin a new year or just keep riding. Treat everyone kindly. Give, give, and give some more, and don't tell anyone you gave. Enjoy every moment, live like it is your last trip around the sun.

The future is so bright we all gotta wear shades.

Tonight's Presentation

Just in case you haven't heard. Tonight I will be presenting my newest version of the Theory of Rhythms at LTCC - Duke Theater - 7 PM.

A fun time will be had by all. Help support local art. Please attend if you are in Tahoe.

See you there.

On the Road Again

Hello from Grand Teton National Park. It has been way too hot but tomorrow they say we might get snow. That is good as it will keep the wildlife active. Only problem, I will want to sleep in. I have lots of new images to share and will be posting them soon. Hope you enjoy the first two, here...

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be giving my "Theory of Rhythms" presentation at the Duke Theater at Lake Tahoe Community College on Monday Oct 12th at 7 PM.

It's free and is part of the Tahoe Art League's Art Expo Tahoe.

On Oct 14 and 15 I will be showing my work at the Edgewood. I'll post more when I return to Tahoe in about a week.

Thanks for looking.

What if...Reflections for a New Year

By now I thought I'd be up to my usual antics, except my neck would be stuck in a forward position. Well, I was right on one point. I'm sitting here typing with a neck brace, 24/7, in place. What I didn't expect was the 'ups and downs' in mood and pain. Pain is somewhat controllable with the help of magic pills, but the mood is another story.

I've always attempted to keep a positive thought on what ever adversity fell across my path. Don't get me wrong. I have my normal ups and downs like everyone else and no matter what kind of positive spin I try to put on it, I get the blues.

These blues are different. I have way too much time on my hands to think about the decisions I've made throughout my life and the decisions I need to make for the rest of my life. What if... The proverbial question that has no answer only an endless series of options that lead to scenarios with more What ifs?

In my marketing lectures I use the Redwood tree as the symbol for our life's path. We stand at the bottom of the giant redwood, looking up, we can't see the top, but we know it is there. The top represents our goal in life, our passion.

We start to climb the giant redwood and on our way to the top we see what appears to be a short cut. So we take a right and climb out on a limb. Sometimes we spend the rest of our lives on this limb. It is a good limb. Not the branch that gets us to our passion, but a nice safe place to be. Other times we realize the limb is just a distraction and we make our way back to the trunk of the giant redwood and continue our quest to the top. Oops, another opportunity, distraction, short-cut, and we venture off.

Some people continue to the top. Some don't. Some wish they continued and spend their life regretting not finishing their journey. Some accept their decision and are happy and content right where they are. After all, there has to be branches. This is their journey, and they accept it. Maybe, quietly in the back of their mind, once in awhile, they think about what if?

Today marks another birthday for planet Earth. We have birthdays, too. We count birthdays by how many trips around the sun we have made. Today and sometimes on our birthdays, we reflect on our lives. Our past, our future. How close have we come to the top of the giant redwood? How satisfied are we on our path? What if...we took a left instead of the right, where would that have led us? What if...we continued to climb to the top?

Today we make resolutions to improve our journey, then we settle back into the 'comfort zone', resolutions cast aside. Dreams put on hold. What if...

Happy Interdependence Day!

I know, a silly play on the past holiday celebrating our independence from King George. However, much has been written on interdependence, including from such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John Muir, to name a few. 

The bee and lupine in the photograph above are interdependent. The bee is dependent on the lupine for nectar while the lupine is dependent on the bee to carry the pollen to the next flower. Interdependency is everywhere, from the smallest life form to whole countries. In fact, the whole universe.

About our Independence Day celebration and the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “All men are created equal”, one of the most recognized sayings in American history. Some have claimed it was paraphrased from Philip Mazzei. Either way it was not that great of a statement since we have been trying to rectify it for 232 years!

TJ was not talking about Native Americans, African Americans or even women. He was talking about rich white men that owned property and probably slaves. We have ‘adjusted’ our constitution to include women, minorities, and the handicapped.

What if we just change that simple phrase to read;

“All things are created equally important”! 

Whoa! Don’t hang me just yet. Think about it. All things equally important! Let it settle into your brain. Think how we might have eliminated a lot of injustices suffered through the course of American history, even the history of the world! It may not be that far off;

“Spanish Parliament Passes Unprecedented Resolution; 

Human Rights for Apes”!

In The Rhythm Part 2

There are two types of rhythms; natural rhythms and unnatural rhythms, also called artificial rhythms. Natural rhythms are caused by three events;

the Earth spinning on its axes

the Moon circling the Earth

and the Earth and Moon orbiting the Sun.

Those three events control everything that happens in the natural world. Day and night, the tides, the seasons. It tells flowers when to bloom, animals when to mate. It tells birds when to fly south for the winter or north for the summer. Those three events affect everything natural and they are all that is needed for life to continue in harmony on planet Earth.

Unnatural rhythms are created by man. (when I use the term man, I am referring to the human species, although, in the beginning it was probably a male that decided to screw with nature)

Man was not happy being controlled by nature. man wants to control nature. In fact, man wants to control everything, so he invented two things that really messed up our natural rhythms. First he invented the light bulb to keep us up late at night, he then invented the alarm clock to get us up early in the morning. If that doesn’t mess up our natural rhythms, I don’t know what does.

We get up early in the morning before we are completely rested, slamming down a cup of caffeine to get us motivated. We jump into our 250 horsepower SUV and speed to work at a blazing 35 mph on a freeway along with all the other humans attempting to make a better life for their children.

Look at the rhythm of the freeway. All the cars smoothly traveling at the same speed. A mass of metal moving along a path like electrons down a copper wire bringing light to the night.

All of a sudden someone speeds up, changes lanes, and causes a crash. Everything stops! The freeway is jammed! One person out of rhythm has brought the entire mass of rush hour traffic to a complete halt. A change reaction has happened. People late for work, kids late for school, a baby is born in the back seat of a Chevy, possibly where it was conceived 9 months ago.

To be contined…

Theory of Rhythms-Part 1

I am going to share with you the secret behind my photography!  It's all about "Rhythms" and how it guides my photography and my life. How I use it to make important decisions including where I ought to be for my next great photo! I invite you to join me in this journey with an open mind. Bring curiosity along with your desire to be more creative and abundant.

I have always used 'natural rhythms' to connect with wildlife but never really understood how, or why, it worked. The more I researched my theory the more I understood how natural rhythms play a very important part in my photography and my life. I am now able to use it more effectively. It is how I make photographs that bring the spirit of the subject to the viewer of my images. When I go on a shoot, I seldom go with a preconceived idea of what I am looking for. Instead, I wait to see what nature offers me. Getting 'In The Rhythm' helps me connect with nature and puts me in the right place when I need to be there. Does it always work? Yes! If I am not distracted and totally 'In The Rhythm," it is magical!

My theory was incubated when I attended a photographer's convention in San Diego. I believe it was 1991. A friend from Tahoe was also going and we agreed to meet there. 700 photogs milling around and I could not find my friend. I sat in the general assembly, scouting around for my friend and could not see her. However, I did notice this guy sitting nearby. Now I'm not sure why I noticed him, no special dress or look, just something that made him stand out for me.

After the general assembly I went to the restroom, didn't see my friend, but in the stall next to me was 'that guy.' I then went to my breakout session, there were probably eight different workshops and the one I chose was not the one my friend chose, but, you guessed it, it was the one 'that guy' chose!

Then, again, the same scenario occurred at lunch. 'That guy' was right in front of me in line! It wasn't until late the next day that I found my friend. She was there from the beginning and we kept missing each other!

During the time I had been looking for her I saw 'that guy' many times. I also saw other photographers that I began to recognize, over and over, but not my friend. It occurred to me that there was a pattern, or rhythm, that was noticeable throughout the crowds.  Certain people moved to certain rhythms. 'That guy' and I, and several others were in the same zone, the same rhythm. We were synced in and my friend and I were not.

That was the beginning of my rhythms theory. How often had that happened to me before? And does it happen to others? Ever drive on a long trip and notice the same vehicle, passing you or you passing it. Seeing it at the same turn-off for gas, the same restaurant for food. There must be something besides coincidence going on. Some sort of cosmic pattern that you are in, at that particular time and space, that brings you together.

During my research I found that, at some point, this has happened to almost everyone. We always consider it coincidence, chance, fate, luck, or happenstance. But what is really going on? I will tell you what I learned and the science behind it in future posts.  If you would like to be notified of the next installment, drop me an email. To be continued...