First of all, I’m a delight.
Second, we are all little drops of light connected to the stars above.
“If everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light.”
― Rumi
During this morning’s meditation time, I posed a question to my inner self about the nature of what lies ahead for my life. This isn’t my way of future telling, but rather a way to follow crumbs the Universe leaves for all of us.
Before you ask, no, the image above was not created by AI. In the Book of Kimbo and the Wayback Machine, I was once a professional photographer. Heck, I even won some awards, had my work hung in galleries, and all that fun stuff creative people hope to experience. Thing is, most of my work was safe, easy to understand, and something that could easily hang on the wall of a doctor’s office. Truly, it was one of those things that paid the bills.
In my free time I pushed my cameras to their limits while also not really understanding all the bells and whistles of each device. Truthfully, even after working in this field for nearly a decade (again, as a professional), I still don’t know what aperture and speed mean when getting an image. And you know what, even though I’ve taken the classes and read the books, I still don’t know what they mean…and honestly I’ve no real desire make any of that stick in the folds of my brain.
Over the years I’ve met a lot of photographers – ranging from hobbyists to those who think they are the next Ansel Adams – who are well educated on the techniques and styles of getting a great image on film or an SD card. Along with that I studied the big names of the field, and did my best to understand their setups. When I would go out into the field to use these things, the shots were nice, but they lacked soul. Well, at least to me they did…so I decided to try something a bit more mystical.
There are many cultures in the world that see the “thing” ness of the Universe. An example of this would be your kitchen broom. While it might look like a simple tool, to these cultures it possesses its own broom nature. Instead of tossing it off to the side when you are done sweeping, you pause for a moment to thank it for its broom-ness. The same thought applies when getting ready to use it. Instead of just grabbing it, you politely ask if it would be okay to be used for sweeping.
In that word jumble above, what I’m trying to say is this — my most treasured photography work happened when I asked, to no one in particular, if it was okay to get a picture. Just a simple little query, but one that often helped me see things, like the light, in a much different way.
Let the light shine; let all be revealed.
That sentence is in bold because: 1) it leans into the title of this post; 2) it leans into the above words about asking permission.
Humans forget that we are made of light. Shadow, too, but only because of the light. This isn’t some overly saccharine view of science, or a dip into the esoteric neo new age rhetoric. Humans produce a low level amount of light (use “the Google” to take a gander at ultra-weak photon emission), which is pretty much hard to see without help from special devices. This machines, cameras if you will, can see the wee photons dancing around in a way that gives off light. Kind of makes you think twice about auras and such, I’m sure.
Now, if we keep going with this, one might say, “Hey, do all things have light within,” and that would be a great way to get some new wrinkles in your brain. At the same time, current scientific research says that all things, and yes…all the things…contain energy. Rolling all this into one place we might be able to say that if the energy of the photographer intertwined with the energy of the camera, they would be able to have a bond (loosely defined here). Now, take that unit, the human and the device, and have it ask permission to see the energy all around. Just let your mind go and think about that for a moment.
When we let our inner light shine, it helps reveal things to us. Not just with a camera, but with the people we meet, and the tasks we do. I mean just really let that sink in – you are connected to all things (energy), and while all things don’t contain light, you do. Just walking around in the world with all that light, so when you encounter another thing, your light can be revealing.
I know it’s a lot to think about on a Monday, and this is reading like someone who had a cat jump on their lap no less than 4 times while writing. But y’all, I’m committed to the bit here, and even if these words seem like fluff and stuff, they are my way of taking the light within and sharing it with others.
Here’s some takeaways from this post:
– you are made of light
– all things have energy (the metaphysics within the laws of thermodynamics is amazing)
– when light shines it reveals things
– when taking photos ask your surroundings if it is okay (and people, too, of course)
– light and energy both connect things
– you are made of light and energy, meaning you are connected to all things
With all that, now that you know all things are connected, every time you do one small act to help yourself, that will help all things.
With the fifth jump of a cat onto my desk, that means it’s time to check on the food bowl, and it’s almost time for office hours to start.
Sending out lots of light and energy to all y’all. Oh, and May the 4th be with you, as this is the May!
Until next time…big hugs,
~ KEU
Kim Upton 