In my experience, an image arrives like a friend, eager to share something. I receive them, and then they become conversation partners. They impart insight as I engage with them- validating a certain natural synchronicity.
Last week, I took a walk, near my home. It’s a path I take routinely, so I didn’t expect to have a fresh experience; And yet, I know that inevitably I do. The words of Madeleine L’Engle came to me (She spoke of Lent, and the month of March, alike): “Strange bleak season in the Church year; strange bleak season in the part of the world in which I live. In March I am ready for spring, and spring is not here.”
Strange bleak season, “Am I also too eager for spring?”
In a wide-angled viewpoint, much of what I see, in the landscape of mid-March, appear to mark loss. The vegetation at the edges of the path is frozen, and wind tossed. The ground cover waits for another season, and I am tempted to ask, “Reposing seeds, are you eager for Spring?”
And then, a few feet ahead…
This seed-shape…visible once I put my attention there. Initially forlorn in appearance, I focus on its exquisite beauty, which is enhanced by the camera’s aperture. I could see, then feel, the course of its protective curve. Even though I couldn’t see inside, thoughts about metamorphosis follow. But on this day, I embrace the encapsulated message not to hurry the season. There is beauty in the bleak.
Hidden Chamber
There,
just over there,
lies beauty.
(we look, we find)
What other latent messages are carried in this season?
Join me in a workshop and sharing group, to explore photography as a contemplative practice. http://www.ingridcyros.com/contemplative-photography