With eyes to see ...

Starfish, Coos Bay, Oregon, May 2008, Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, Exposure 1/250 sec @ f14.0, ISO 60, with flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Take a close look at this picture. First, can you tell what it is? Well, I guess the title gives it away -- that's right, these are different colored starfish attached to a rock jetty along the Oregon coast.

Now go ahead a look a little closer. Examine the textures, the colors, the undulations, and then, right there, in the upper left hand quadrant. Do you see it? I didn't notice it until I was looking at the picture. It's a starfish eye! I didn't even know they had eyes. And it's looking right back at you! Wow. (You may need to enlarge the photo to see it -- just click on it.)

It is amazing to me when we stop and appreciate all that we see from moment to moment. It's hard to express just how grateful I am for this present moment.

And so I wanted to share this five minute video I just came across. I think its message is right on the mark, and its imagery is excellent, and its music soothing. Please enjoy, and I hope that you are simply grateful that you have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Let yourself dissolve

Sparkling Ripples, Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 80mm, Exposure 1/200 sec @ f18, ISO 200, exposure bias -2/3 stop, no flash, circular polarizing filter, color and contrast adjusted in iPhoto. © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Such a simple concept. No. Such a powerful action.

Let yourself dissolve. Just let your "self" dissolve.

Not by any effort. Rather, lack of effort.

Simply be. And then you will know.

Like bubbles in the sea,
All the worlds arise in you.

Know you are the Self.
Know you are one.

Let yourself dissolve.

You see the world.
But like the snake in the rope,
It is not really there.

You are pure.

Let yourself dissolve.

-- Ashtavakra Gita 5:2-3

Sunset upon clouds

Sunset Upon Clouds, Nolin Lake State Park, Kentucky, June 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/160 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, exposure bias -1.67 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Ah, there is that sunset again. And this time it's igniting those beautiful clouds in the foreground.

Trace back those rays, and perhaps you can see the cauldron of creation itself.

Squint your eyes in the brightness, and see the cloud tips being dabbed with light, and ripples being painted upon the lake.

Is there anything to do but smile? Surely such a scene will lift any spirit:

Sometimes I go about pitying myself
And all the while
I am being carried across the sky
By beautiful clouds.

-- Ojibway Indian Poem