Visiting Butterfly, Tucker Pond, Warner, NH, July 2005, Pentax Optio 555, Exposure 1/320 sec @ f5.6, ISO 64, with flash © Steven Crisp"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -- Anais NinThere is wisdom in these quotes. Just what is life and its purpose anyway? To maximize the number of days on this planet? Or to reach and stretch and grow, by taking risks, by daring to go where others do not, and in the process, to evolve toward something greater than ourselves? Answer that with your actions, not with your thoughts. Through your heart and your love, not your fear.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." -- Richard Bach
"A man with outward courage dares to die. A man with inward courage dares to live." -- Lao Tzu
Life is ever unfolding. Ever expanding. Always changing and frequently challenging. If you fret and worry about the future, you will be paralyzed with fear. But if you focus on the tasks before you in this moment, you will find self-assuredness, confidence and competence to address those challenges. And this will let you cast off your worries, hoist up your inhibitions, and sail out to meet the sweet sunset of eternity.
Sunset and palms, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2005, Pentax Optio 555, Exposure 1/320 sec @ f4.6, ISO 64, no flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]
2 comments:
Steve, to me you have described early retirement. To have inward courage, to take charge of my own life's experience. To put aside my fears and live in the moment. To take each experience as it is, with no preconceived notion of dependency on desired outcome. This is courage. To raise one's head above the wall of one's cubicle. To say: I too believe what Henry David Thoreau believed. That the beauty and real treasure of this our waking consciousness lies in the present moment existence of beauty. Beyond the fluoroescent hum, into the vast void of present moment natural experience of self realization and wonder. What wonderful reflections your photographs are of your own present moment chrsalis.
Grasshopper,
Thank you for the comment. And your words and your journey remind me how our lives and the world around us act as mirrors into our true nature. What we see is so much more a reflection of our inner selves -- our state of consciousness -- our state of being. Work there.
Take the risk and the action to better understand our own beingness, and then watch the world reflect beautiful sunsets in the mirror of our soul.
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