Kat Eye Studio

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Beneath Perception

Yesterday, as I pulled my creaky body out of bed, I was filled with internal debate: Should I go out for my daily hike, or should I give myself a day of rest? I didn’t have to decide right away. I settled in with a cup of tea and journaled, all the while my subconscious worked the problem.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion: Yes, I needed to go for a hike. I didn’t have time for a long one, but I knew once I got out there, my body would work out the aches and pains and I would be happy I did. Even though I would have a long list of valid reasons if I didn’t go, in my heart I would know them as excuses and feel guilty. There was really no question at all, in the end.

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I walked the forest path, listening to the bird song, and soaking in the steadiness of the forest. I shared the joy of being in the open, free to roam, with my enthusiastic canine companion. I was filled with a buoyancy and lightness, a happiness that only comes in these moments on the trail.

There is something for me in the forest I can’t explain. There is a communication that lies beneath perception. It is an acceptance of all that I am, almost an absolving of all that I am not. There is no judgement in the forest. It is there whether I am or not, but it welcomes me as part of it, part of a greater system, for a brief time every morning.

I leave the forest with my soul scrubbed clean, refreshed, renewed, and ready for whatever the day brings.

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This Way

I believe each and every one of us know deep down in our hearts the direction we want to go. It might be a secret longing, but we know.

The problem is, we let other things get in the way of moving that direction… Be it our fears or doubts or other commitments and responsibilities. We often spend our energy coming up with reasons why we can’t follow the path our heart sets for us, instead of spending energy removing the roadblocks or starting out along the path.

It often takes something bigger, a crisis to nudge us over those barriers and along the path. Sometimes we need the obvious arrows pointing the direction we need to go.

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I was reminded of this as I hiked in the woods this week. I’ve been longing to hike on a regular basis for months. My heart has been yearning for this quiet time in the forest; my body has been asking to be moved. There is a happiness and contentment I feel when I get out and hike which spreads out into the rest of my life.

I started to rearrange my schedule and responsibilities so I could get out regularly months ago, but then I let other things get in the way. I made excuses and distracted myself. And then my shoulder started hurting, which became the arrow pointing me along the path in the direction my heart was already telling me to go.

My heart knew all along what I wanted. My body and my head knew too. Why did I have to wait until there was something painful to make the change? I’m looking closely at this, to see what I can learn.

Do you know where you want to go next? What is your heart telling you to do? Maybe it’s as simple as mine, walking in the woods. Maybe it’s something bigger. What can you do to move in that direction now? Look at what you need to rearrange, what you need to change, and start down the path. If you don’t, you might find an arrow or two appearing, making sure you know the way.

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A Walk in the Woods

I woke up Monday to the sound of the rain. It figures, I thought to myself, It would be raining the first day of my new plan to go hiking regularly. But this is Oregon, and if you didn’t ever go out in the rain you would be stuck indoors for months, so I got out the rain gear and headed to the woods.

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It was everything I had hoped for: peaceful, beautiful, solitary. Oh yes, and wet. But the sun came out several times, and I experienced a true joy to see the light dancing among the trees. Had I stayed at home, I wouldn’t have noticed the sun.

By the end, I was breathing deeply. My shoulders had relaxed, coming down from my ears to a more natural location. My body was tired but refreshed.

This is what I’ve been craving. It was hard to break the habit and walk away from the computer and the To Do list. But Day One of Project Forest Walks was a success. Today will be Day Two.

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Different Paths

Today is the day. After months of campaigning, the US elections are finally here. Don’t worry, this is not a post where I share any political views. This is a post to celebrate that they really don’t matter here.

Regardless of political views, regardless of cultural or religious or socioeconomic background, we come together united by art. We come together to seek beauty and personal expression through our camera lens. That’s all that matters.

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We all walk a different path, to a different destination. Our journey is truly our own. Let’s be united in the pursuit of great photographs along the way.

PS – The Photo-Heart Connection link up is open through tomorrow. Come join us!

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Warning Signs

Imagine you are walking down a path and you see this warning sign:

What do you do? Do you turn around and head home? Do you continue on, taking every precaution? Or do you wing it, figuring that you’ll be ok? We encountered this sign on one of our hikes in Glacier National Park. There were several options available to us, to avoid bears:
1. Don’t hike, because then you are sure to avoid bears.
2. Get a bell and make lots of noise, to warn the bears of your coming and scare them away.
3. Purchase the bear repellent spray for $49.95, to spray a bear if it comes near you.

Since we weren’t doing any serious back country hiking, just short hikes popular with the tourists, we opted to purchase a bear bell and continue. We already have our own noisemaker with us, in the form of an 11-year-old boy, so we figured we would be ok.

Bear Precautions: An 11-year-old boy and a bell

We were fine. No bears sighted on our hikes! Some beautiful things sighted along the path though, like gorgeous wildflowers and light dancing on the leaves. Experiences we would have never had, if we stayed in the developed areas bears avoid.

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We could have been warned away by the sign. We could have avoided any chance of meeting bears by not going down the path. Hiking in bear country is a good analogy for living your life. Do you avoid any chance of danger, by not going down the path at all? Or do you weigh the options and risks, and move forward down the path with some precautions?

I especially love the phrase on the sign: “There is no guarantee of your safety when hiking or camping in bear country.” Really, there is no guarantee of your safety anywhere.

There is one absolute guarantee though, if you decide to avoid the path, you will miss some wonderful views.

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The Path of Confidence

I’ve been thinking about confidence lately. What is it? How do I get it, and keep it? I can imagine confidence as a path along a ledge. If you move to much to one side, you fall of the ledge into insecurity. If you move too much to the other, you fall off into arrogance. How do you stay the middle road of confidence? That’s what I’m wondering.

For some reason, I also think of confidence as a physical stance. Feet apart, body strong, looking straight ahead, making eye contact with the future. The stance is grounded, solid. It takes more than a wisp of wind to break a confident stance. Compare this to insecurity, which I imagine as curled into a ball, trying to present the minimum amount of surface to the world. Hiding the face, protecting as much as possible. And then arrogance, which is similar to confidence in stance but not as strong. Looking up, maybe, or eyes closed, and not able to see what is coming down the path. The stance of either insecurity or arrogance is not as stable. Things you can’t see can hit you and knock you over.

So really, mixing all of my metaphors together, what I want is a strong stance on a wide path. How to get that?

It seems that I waffle back and forth. From insecurity I force myself to stand up and be confident to move forward and try new things. With some success, my confidence grows to the point I feel like I’m doing well, only to be occasionally knocked back by something I didn’t see coming in my arrogance or ignorance. Is there a way to hold the middle path?

All I’ve figured out so far is that I keep moving forward, pretending confidence when I don’t have it. Otherwise I’d be balled up by insecurity, stuck in one place. Hoping that my confidence, when marvelously gained for those brief moments, does not turn to arrogance. It seems to me a fine balance to hold.

I’m hoping someday, the path of confidence is wider than it feels right now. I mean, look at all of the things I’m confident in now, I don’t even think about, that I used to worry about or that used to seem enormous. But maybe that’s the key, the path is always wider looking back than looking forward. It’s the act of moving forward, that widens the path.

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