5 Lessons Learned From The Grace of Landscapes

Landscape photography at its finest is like being rocked gently in the cradle of creation. It’s spiritual for me. Some of my biggest, deepest, most defining moments have happened out there. I feel the best when I’m out there, resonating with eternal songs.

So I thought I’d share my top 5 of “lessons from landscapes”. Five is the number of Grace, which is at the end of the day, is what I experience every time I’m out there.

1. Radiate From The Center of Your Being 

Find your core truth, the one that lights you up on the inside. Discover the source of All That Is and where it lives inside of you. Open your inner ears and listen to it. Focus on it. Then radiate its light into your world. It’s how we were designed to operate.

2. Show Up Fully, Completely, As You

Don’t pretend you’re someone else, ever. No matter what weird ideas you may have picked up along the way about your self-worth, your looks, your hair, the color of your skin, your family, WHATEVER… God made you perfectly. What if he were right about you? So embrace that… and show up with ALL you got, every day. In every way you can. It confuses the opposition and gives eternal light a reason to dance. Like it needed a reason.

Blanca, Bianca and Ginger were inseparable. They dressed, partied and clubbed together. They ate, studied and danced together. Which of course meant that they were always caught by the paparazzi together.

3. Know thyself

Get to know who you really are, what gifts you bring, your true colors, your unique gifts. And then BRING IT unabashedly. Give of them freely. Without them, the world isn’t as bright, not as much fun, is frankly missing something utterly, unbelievably, undeniably cool that might just change EVERYthing… and so are you.

Step right up with your eyes and ears;it's the kaleidoscope of delicious and tears. That kisses your senses so softly and then,is off to visit the next world again.

4. Work Hard, But Without Effort

This one took me years to figure out. Work hard, without effort? It didn’t compute, until I watched water. Really took it in. Water does incredible work, carving deep canyons, bringing down mountains; waterfalls create their own little weather systems of mist and wind and even rain, simply through the force of their being. But water doesn’t effort… it isn’t trying to do ANY of that.  It’s simple being true to its nature. It just flows and finds the path of least resistance, then lets nature take its course.

Life is so much better when you’re like water.

A horsetail falls irrevocably towards the ground. Until it swishes at a fly.Its namesake don' stop for no stinkin' flies.

5. Your Path is Unique: Revel In It

Water taught me this one too: your path is unique, never stop following it. Water doesn’t worry if it’s on the right path.  It just flows – and things are revealed along the way. (NOTE TO SELF: Revel in the revelations!)  It doesn’t question if it’s on the right path, the most profitable one, the fastest one, or if it’s as good as the one Bob over there is on… there is an implacable ISness to the path that water takes. It creates unique patterns, it reflects light, it soothes as it moves. It supports life, cleanses, transports, and makes the most awesome sounds along the way.

I note that when I follow my unique path, it doesn’t look quite like anyone else’s… but it’s glorious to me.

If I stray, not so much.

In a short window of time,the waters turn to goldas if her majesty has opened her queenly doors. Nature will see you now.

So what about you? What’s something you’ve learned along the way that, when you stick with it, shifts everything?
Maybe we should write a book!