Never Forget

Flatiron :: NYC

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
This image was taken of the Flat Iron in NYC a few years back. Every trip I take to that city is an emotional one. New York is so vibrant, but I am always reminded of the loss and the pain that NYC suffered. That in turn, reminds me to be grateful for each and every day I have on this earth and to live and love fiercely.

For me, today is a day of remembrance to honor those lost not just in 2001, but in all crimes of intolerance and power struggles throughout the world. Its also a reminder to give thanks to everyone who works hard every day to keep our country and our citizens safe.

Life is short. Live it to the fullest with love and appreciation in your heart. Hug the people you care about. Don’t be frugal with kind words and smiles. Understand that different doesn’t necessarily mean bad. Be accepting and kind isn’t easy…it requires personal strength to overcome our fears of the unknown. The dream of world peace is a huge under taking, but it starts with us. Every person in our international community has the power to affect the way the winds blow. It starts with our actions, our reactions and the strength of our character. It lies in our ability to talk, to listen, to respect one another, to let go of the small stuff, to be generous with our goodwill, to understand what situations call for strength and what situations call for love. You can be the change. <3

#911 ‪#‎neverforget‬

Spiritual Symphony

Prelude

The land of Song within thee lies, Watered by living springs…

The ducks and geese chattering to themselves as they settle in the water, the soft wind blowing through reeds along the shore and an ever changing masterpiece in the sky above me.  These are the summer nights I live for. 🙂

For those of you haven’t done so yet, I’m looking for your quote contribution in exchange for a free gift!  TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY! Go here, check it out, leave your quote, win stuff.  Boom.

 

We Are One

We Are One

I’ve always thought there was something intimate about the way the ocean caresses the shore.  There is an interconnectedness.  A reminder that what affects one affects us all.  We are one world, one international community, one people and it benefits us all to embrace the ideas of love, tolerance, understanding and respect. ❤

This image was from the workshop I took with Toby Harriman, David Gaiz and Michael Shainblum.  Such a pleasure working with and chatting with those guys…and I got the added bonus of spending some time with my good friend David Pasillas, as well as making a few new photo-friends along the way.  Overall, it well worth the time and effort to fly to Cali! 🙂

On the whole, this photo is a blend of HDR and luminosity masks, with some minor color and light tweaks here and there.

Finding Our Way

Smugglers Notch Trail

I wondered, just now, how people come up with titles for their images and posts and such.  I mean, occasionally, I dream up a title to something that just feels right.  Same way with the rare poem that comes to mind, or the every-now-and-again piece of writing I turn out.  Those words are easy.  They just flow from my brain to my pen (or in this case, keyboard) without effort, already formed into a cohesive and succinct thought.  In those cases, I dare say, they were just born eloquent.  No struggling, no writer’s block, no searching for hidden meanings or words that do an image justice…  Just an outpouring of creativity.

Those are wonderful moments in any creative’s life.  You have an itch.  A desire.  A need to produce…something.  And it happens, until you’ve satisfied your craving (may I use the word obssession?  Because it seems accurate.) and can move on to the next thing in your day.

But then there is the rest of the time.  You feel an urge to create, but it is more of a vague, somewhat frustrating itch that you can neither reach nor scratch.  You know you WANT to draw from the well of your imagination, but for whatever reason, it eludes you.

I had one of those moments the other day, when I was posting this photo on 500px.  I believe the title I came up with (after 3 tries) was “Mountain Path”.  That’s like naming your black and white cat Oreo (no offense to all of the Oreo’s out there!  And as a side note, while I’ve dropped my filters and let my fingers run wild on the keyboard…what about naming a black and white cat “Monochrome”?  Huh, photo-fans?  Super-genius, right?)

Where was I?  Oh…yeah…Mountain Path.  Definitely does not do the photo any justice, however true the words may be.  My inner poet was sleeping that day, to be sure.  Something inside of me wanted to give it a name that was inspiring, and transferred the sense of peace I felt in the woods that day to the viewer.

“The Path to Enlightenment”? Nah.  It was the path to a very cold, beautiful pond at the top of a New England mountain…but enlightenment would be over-stating.

“A Walk in the Woods”? True…but not very inspiring.  A title is like Twitter…only so many characters available to convey our feelings.

“Dang, 4 Miles of Hiking Is Tiring”? As honest as it gets…but an obvious latch ditch effort. haha

So, I thought a bit more about the day, the hike, my life and what the memories meant to me.  2013 has been, simply put, the year of change for me.  I’m not the sort to generally spill a whole lot of personal details about my life, but suffice it to say, there has been a lot of self-reflection, a lot of accepting things I cannot change and resolving to improve the things I can.  One of those changes involved transitioning out of a 13 year relationship where we were both unhappy towards the end.

Since growing enough courage to make an amicable break, and finding a place of peace about the decision, I have been blessed with a fresh start.  I’ve promised myself that in this new relationship, I will try not to make the same mistakes, and to hold tight to the lessons I’ve learned.  I’m more honest, a better communicator, and more inclined to put my energy into something positive, less inclined to bury my head in the sand.

(A good course of action not just for our interactions with others, but for life in general, no?)

This day…this photo…was a great hike I took with the new guy, a day full of smiles and laughs.  It was easy, and full of promise.  To me, this photo was representative of my journey, of me finding my own way through life.  Sure, its full of twists and turns, its full of steps that made my ruined knee ache (ohh…I mean some pain) but it’s life and as long as I stay on the (blue marker) trail, I know I’ll make it.  My journey, my path, my life with all of its mistakes and lessons.  My photo.

Hey…guess I found that creative well after all.  This image is called “Finding Our Way”.

A quick technical note:  This is a pano stitch taken with my nifty-50 lens for a project being hosted by my friend Will.  This scene was suggested as a photo by the new guy, Sean.  Gotta give credit where credit is due. 🙂

Peace. Love. Boston.

Peace. Love. Boston.

A day after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I feel sadness not only for the people affected, but for the nation as a whole.  I spent the drive to work crying as I listened to the reports of what happened at the finish line of what is, in essence, an international event.  My heart ached to hear about the loss and the pain that the people there were experiencing and I knew what today’s blog post would be about.

Obviously, it would be foolish to think that violence and suffering are unique to American tragedies.  In so many ways, we have it easier than nations gripped by unrest, war etc.  That being said, it seems more and more that we are seeing incidences of large scale violence grace the headlines of American media outlets.  Whatever your beliefs on the hows, the whys and the ways to counteract the trend, I think we can all agree that tragedies such as the explosions in Massachusetts are upsetting, to say the least.

Today, I saw this graphic and it resonated with me on a larger scale that just music.  To me, art is more that just the actual finished project. It represents so much that is beautiful and pleasant in the world.  When I thought about it in those terms. I felt that we could all benefit from a reminder to fill our days with love, hope and kindness, and to live more intensely, more beautifully and more devotedly than ever before.

Whatever your contribution to this world, do it with an open heart.  Use the light that you bring to this world and to the people around you as a way to combat the darkness, the sadness, the fear, the hate and the violence we all face.  It’s one world, we are one race and in the end, our journey through life will be marked by, more than anything, the legacy we leave behind.

To those affected by this tragedy: my condolences, thoughts, hope and prayers.  To those who stepped up in a moment of need to help the people around you: my gratitude.