I am amazed by what I see when I pay attention. There are so many moments like this when everything lines up perfectly in sync. When I choose to follow my inspiration and allow it to guide me, I am driven down a path of miracles. If I don't pay attention, if I discount that inner voice that's urging me on, I miss opportunities to allow the light of creativity to move through me.
I've missed many opportunities out of fear, doubt, or worry. Who knows why I listen sometimes and not others. But I am trusting and responding to that voice more and more.
This image came out of several serendipitous events. The hawk was taken a couple of years ago after moving to Colorado from Florida and meeting a guy who would impact my life in profound ways. I had never photographed birds before nor did I have the interest. But he was leading a "raptor shoot" and invited me to join him.
The landscape was taken a few weeks ago. I woke up on a Sunday to a light fog over the flatirons and a misty kind of rain. I love rainy days. Coming from the tropics to such a dry climate, weather like that always impacts my mood. I threw on my clothes, grabbed my camera gear, and jumped into the car. I knew what I wanted when I pulled out of the driveway, but I didn't know exactly where to go to get it. I headed east to the open spaces of the farmlands and rolling hills. I stopped a few times but wasn't getting what I wanted, and feeling a little discouraged, decided to head home. Just as I turned a corner, I noticed this shack with it's look of amazement sitting in a field of freshly cut hay. If you look closely you will see that the farmhouse in the background is sporting a giant American flag.
It wasn't until I got home to look at my images and started working in the digital darkroom that I felt this image come alive. It bridges the past and present together for me in such a way that speaks volumes about my need to pay closer attention to that voice that inspires and urges me out of my chair. More and more I'm finding that it's at the moment of surrender that epiphanies emerge. This is how I become more of the person I am.
But who is that really? And why does it matter? We all ask these kinds of questions - "What is the meaning of my life?" - as if there were some simple answer.
I know that I am a person with a camera and a gut feeling that sometimes succeeds at capturing the moment. I am someone who listens once in a while to her inner voice and has the courage to leave the comfort of her home to go exploring without knowing what's on the other side. And I know that I am pure energy with a need to experience and express through this physical body the urges of my soul. For now that is all I know and I am amazed that I know even that.
What amazes you?