There is beauty in autumn. And no, this time I don’t mean the vivid colors that some trees and plants use to herald their demise. I mean the quiet beauty of transition.
The beauty of a graceful exit.
I love the lines of the bare trees of winter, that is no secret. But as this fall has progressed, I’ve enjoyed the emerging lines which are accentuated with the receding leaves. Some leaves go out in a blaze of glory, falling from the tree en mass in their bright colors, still flexible and pliant until days on the ground. One day the tree is full, the next it is bare. It’s startling. But other leaves age in place, slowly and quietly making their transition, losing a bit of themselves here and there with a whisper until one day they are all gone.
It’s these leaves I’m noticing. They speak to me of tenacity. Of a will to continue, even with the inevitability of the end. And wow, aren’t they beautiful? In their demise, they are so graceful. They accentuate the beauty of the bare tree beneath, rather than covering it, as the summer leaves do. It’s almost as if this is their finest hour, their greatest contribution. This is when the tree and leaf are truly one. They tell me that a tree is not either/or, bare or full, it’s both. I can see both seasons, appreciate both, together in this brief moment. These leaves chastise me in my wishing for one or the other; in my desire to hurry or slow time. They remind me there is only this moment. Can I not see?
This time, as any other, I look to the trees for lessons. This season’s lesson for me: How to appreciate the transition. Regardless of what is coming, it can be approached and experienced in the moment, with grace.
“Graceful” is a word that keeps coming to me, over and over, to describe the lines that I want to capture in my photographs. The way I want to live my life. Lately, I see grace all the time in the lines around me, whether it’s in the trees or the sand or extension of a human hand. This month it’s been especially clear to me in the transition of the seasons, as my Photo-Heart Connection expresses. It seems so dramatic to say this, but I ache for the beauty of it all. I do. I am deeply touched by the grace I see in the face of inevitability. I want to have that kind of stoic strength in my approach to the transitions of life. I observe it, I photograph it, and I know I fall short. But I keep going, hanging on, working toward that kind of being. I wonder: Do you have to first see, before you can be?
What is your Photo-Heart Connection this month? Do you see deep longings or light playfulness in your photographs? Your heart is telling you something. Explore the message. Share it with us here.
Trees and transition know so much grace. We definitely have a lot to learn from them. Great image Kat, I just love this time of year.
It is a wonderful time of year!
Beautiful post, Kat. I also love to shoot the last leaves clinging to the branches. I hadn’t thought of the word, “graceful”, though – it’s very fitting, and describes well what appeals to me in photography, I think.
There is so much grace we can capture with our cameras, isn’t there? I can see why it appeals to you, too.
There is only the moment….so true and so easily forgotten wishing for something in the past or a future desire. It is human nature I believe. How grateful the gift to see the gracefulness that surrounds you. I love this image-and note that while it is a tree-as you’ve been so enchanted with lately, it is just a portion of a tree. Hmmmm.
Hmmmm… you are right. I always think of my trees as portions of a tree, but I am getting closer. Interesting observation!
I love your “graceful” photo-heart connection, Kat. That’s something I aspire to, also. But – rather off topic – this image strikes me as one that would make a lovely pattern for a fabric or wallpaper. I’m picturing it as a duvet cover, actually. Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. 🙂
You know, you are not the first person to mention textiles in conjunction with my recent artwork. Maybe there is something for me there! Thanks for mentioning it.
Beautiful post, Kat. The images look like paintings, or old wall paper. I’d love to know how you made them! I share your appreciation of the trees in fall and winter when we can see the “skeletal” structures beneath the full dressing of leaves. Celebrate Fall! — Michele at Sweet Leaf
Thanks Michele! Stay tuned, I’m sharing mobile tutorials here and there, and this one might pop up!
Such a wonderful post, Kat. I love the simplicity of your image and your heartfelt interpretation of it. Grace is so important in meeting life’s inevitable changes. I think we can learn from nature. Each stage has it’s beauty.
I think the same thing, Gina. Each stage of nature, life, whatever has its own beauty. We just need to quit wishing it were “other” and see it as it is.
Such a beautiful post Kat, I love to look at and photograph trees in all their stages, their strength and beauty have a kind of peace about them. I love your PHC but I really love the way you are able to write about it.
Thank you Miriam! It’s the ongoing practice of photojournaling and the Photo-Heart Connection, connecting with the an image and letting the words form out of the emotion, which has really helped me grow with my writing.
Another beautifully written and illustrated post – so very inspiring in all its elements. To learn from the trees – you bring us that lesson of living a life of “grace in the face of inevitability.” Thank you.
Thank you Brenda! I keep being reminded that this journey, this world, always has interesting things to teach me when I slow down, connect and listen.
“Only this moment,” yes so true. And the older I get the more I don’t want to let any moments slip away. Love this post, so inspiring both in words and the photo. I love trees, I love standing at the bottom and shooting straight up – reminds me how small I am.
Oh, what a great visual of you at the bottom of the tree and the image you create looking up. We are small, but we are powerful when we can seize the moment!
oh my. I do feel this with you. Beautiful! The beauty of a graceful exit. I will remember those words. I just can’t get enough of these moments this fall. And I continue to fall more deeply in love with trees! So grateful to live where there are such a great number and variety! Thanks for hosting this wonderful connection…a few days “late” to the party…but I enjoy joining in so much each month!
Thank you Adrienne. And you weren’t late at all!
This is good stuff: your photos, the beautiful painterly editing, your thoughtful words. Thanks for your inspiration!
xoxo
Thank you so much Cindy!
I find myself close to the edge of envy when I read your words so full of incredible images! More and more, I feel moved to filling my cup with the spirituality I find here. thank you
Thank you! Glad you enjoy it here.