Dailies
Photo Wanders, freelancing and process
Lighthouse Park
It’s pretty remarkable to encounter so many huge fir trees so close to a parking lot.
It brings up feelings of awe and wonder and a sense of importance, that somebody made a good decision at one point, to preserve this area for the rest of us to be able to enjoy.
But it’s an interesting dynamic, where in these trees are not special at all. Go to any undeveloped corner of the coast (north of 49) and you will encounter (or, would have encountered) these magnificent creatures called Trees. This particular section is only special and unique in comparison to the pavement that surrounds it. It’s not to say that it isn’t special to be able to visit such a place, so close to the pavement, but it is to say that the uniqueness of these trees is only due to the destruction of everything else around. It makes me ponder what “special” really is, we often raise up those that stand out of the crowd, are unique, special, and in the process we separate them from the rest. It just seems a bit lonely, like what if we were to do this same thing to other people, lift them up, make a distinction between them and the rest of us. What if they didn’t want that?
My partner and I sat watching the seals for a long time not saying much. They were playing in a current running between two rocks. For some, the seals are not as special as us people, animals are a step below us. Who made that decision to rank each other on a hierarchy? The seals seemed to be the ones who had everything figured out. Us, escaping the end of a long work day to retreat to this small sliver of undeveloped land, or them, playing together, dancing in the waves. I think we have a long way to go in all this, first off might be relieving ourselves from a position of judgment, that we as humans are far from the only perspective that matters on this earth. And that the task of ranking and creating hierarchies is a lonely pursuit that most likely will lead to regret down the road.
But we were just on a little wander, so do with this as you wish.
A mille cude,
KB
The Conditions for Doing
I struggle to do the thing at times, my focus narrows, I start trying to force through the obstacles, forgoing rest or recovery until some future date, when I have done the thing. But that’s not how it ever works for me. I forget this far too often.
Or maybe this is the real process?
Because all the times I have “done some thing” it is not because I tried to do it, but rather that the conditions for “the doing” were just so that “the thing” happened organically. It’s not a lack of intention though, these things I have done are not happenstance, it would be unfair to say they were. Instead I prefer to look at it as in those times I was intentionally creating the conditions for the thing to emerge.
What I am noticing is that when I find myself trying to force through process, late nights and neglecting my needs because they would take away from “the doing”, I am putting myself in survival mode. Quite literally, I think to myself, once I reach my goal I can rest and then I will take care of myself. Once I get away from the tiger I will sleep, eat and hydrate. But the tiger never rests because the tiger is me, the tiger is my own sense of needing to “do” to survive, partially true, partially my own creation, and it is fascinating to consider how my approach to process can impact my nervous system.
How subtle survival mode can creep into our daily experience. And how hard it is to regulate after.
So here’s to turning attention away from doing the thing, and instead focusing energy on creating the conditions for the thing we want to emerge.
Ceud mile failte,
KB
Starting somewhere
And so it begins…
it me.
And so it begins…
This section of my website is new to me, a place for spontaneous sharing of lessons and reflections on my time using a camera. I don’t want this to just be about work either though, because no part of me could ever really separate what I do with who I am, so this will be an informal, hopefully semi-consistent practice of sharing for the sake of sharing; whether it be daily galleries, wonderings, a quote, a good read or listen, you never know what you might find here!
But! This will only be the location for hosting the content, I will continue to communicate through social media to keep you in the loop on new posts or coming updates (or, sign up for email updates at the contact button below so we can ditch our social overlords altogether).
In the meantime I will continue to pick berries and hopefully regain some of my fashion sense, but mostly I’ll be continuing as pictured below (gallery supplied by my wonderful partner Tessa Antone) , because what else would I do ;)
Photo by Brian Hockenstein while sailing from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert on the “Outer Passage”
Till next!