In the Ordinary

"Life is only now.

Love is only now.

Truth is only now.

Wisdom is only now.

Enlightenment, Self-Realization-only now.

Joy is only now.

Happiness is only now.

Freedom, only now.

Absolute Peace, only now.

It's up to you."

~Scott Morrison

"The search for the exotic, the strange, the unusual, the uncommon has often taken the form of pilgrimages, of turning away from the world, the "Journeys to the East", to another country or to a different religion. The great lesson from the true mystics, from the Zen monks, and now also from the Humanistic and Transpersonal psychologists-that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's own back yard, and that travel may be a flight from confronting the sacred-this lesson can be easily lost. To be looking elsehwere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous."    ~Abraham Maslow



I like that-that the sacred is in the ordinary. For, it is. We Westerners always think that we need to be 'wowed' by something in order for it to have some sort of credence or deep meaning. I just think that we tend to be blind, for the most part to what is in front of us. I remember when I used to live in Los Angeles back in the '80's and the Bolshoi Ballet came to perform-a really big deal back then as nothing ever toured out of the Soviet Union. My husband and I got tickets to see them at the Dorothy Chandler Performance Center in Los Angeles. I was awestruck by the quality of the performance-I could see the difference in the training that these dancers had and it translated into a level of artistry I had never seen before (American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, etc., are fantastic, but they train differently). I had to restrain myself from jumping out of my seat and applauding wildly for the dancers. But, I didn't because the audience as a whole, seemed so nonplussed by it all. I found it hard to believe. It was as though they were blind to the calibre of talent before them. If not blind, then not very appreciative or demonstrative of their appreciation. And the Bolshoi Ballet is far from ordinary. But, the story still serves as an example of sorts of how we miss the sacred that is right there before us each and every day.

As for the bird skull and partial vertebrae, I'm almost hesitant to tell the story on how it is that I have it. If this sort of thing creeps you out, then read no further (be warned)!

The dove died of natural causes in my yard-I found its body as the base of one of my holly shrubs. I let it be and asked my husband to let it be and watched as it decayed over the course of many months (takes forever here in this dry climate). Finally, all of it's flesh and feathers had rotted off and all that was left was its bones. I only kept the skull and vertebrae as that was most visually interesting to me. I kept it as I wanted to photograph it. I think I'd like to do a 'vanitas' kind of a shot with this in the near future if it doesn't disintegrate on me (it is extremely delicate).

Have a Blessed Easter, everyone!

In the meantime, join us as a group of us (yes-there are many of us!) from around the world post our shadow shots over at Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Entertain your muse and be amused by stopping by to see what others have posted!