photography by wasim.

Tag: properties

Just Flow – Pursuing A Life Of Being

In a strange sense, I feel like I’m preparing for something. I spend a lot of time alone, very little social interaction – isolated from the constant deluge of stimulation and media saturation. I’m left alone in my thoughts, in my being.

And I do it to myself.

And there’s an almost constant sense in me of, I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be down there either, but I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be somewhere. Elsewhere. Yet, only recently have I begun to accept and embrace the possibility that I truly am supposed to be here. For if I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be.

But I am.

The distractions, the noise, the static, the relationships from the past, most of which were based on toxic and flawed foundations, would have continued. I would not have been able to see them for what they were. The true essence of man that surrounded me would have continued to be masked by a show or a band or a story or the news or an event or a relationship or a girl or a guy or a lie or the tv or a film or some form of numbing deceit…adding layer upon layer on top of the only thing that truly exists. Layers that you’d eventually have to dig through. One after another after another.

And hence, the cycle would just propagate itself.

Is it easy? Of course not. But it’s not supposed to be. Is it valuable? Absolutely. For understanding what you are capable of and what you are not, is necessary if you pursue a life of being.

So it was necessary, necessary to step away from it all, and be away from it all, and be. Just marinate in being. Feel everything. Allow yourself to feel everything. Allow it to take hold of you. And then allow it to release you. However many times it needs to.

It was necessary in order to understand that the way it was and the way it seemed, is not necessarily the way it will be. It was necessary to begin to understand yourself at your core in order to understand how that core fits into greater moment.

Limitations are a gift. Limitations realized are a blessing. Knowing that those limitations are preparation for limitless expansion is the ultimate prize.

For without those gifts and blessings, you would never know where you stand. Where you should be.

So yes, I’m preparing for something. The only question is…

…what?

July 2, 2013
When you can’t get away from it all…get away from it all.

So it was one of those days, the thought process just goes into overdrive and begins to cloud any reasoning and logic. The past comes up, the future comes up, all of the baggage surrounding both start to rear their nosy and intrusive little lizard heads. Sometimes this would last for hours, then days, then weeks, but more and more you begin to see that there’s a way out…well, at least temporarily.

You recognize it.

You realize it.

You consciously stop it and remind yourself that none of it is part of your current existence, except the parts you allow to be.

And then just as you think you’re starting to get the hang of it all, you slip right back down. And that’s when you realize you need to step away.

Or maybe it’s just me.

In any case, I figured it’s been a long while since I’ve visited one of my little sanctuaries and what better time than now. So I jumped in the car, headed down to the gardens at Lake Shrine Self-Realization Center, and just sat.

Literally.

Just picked one of the benches and sat.

Watched. Listened. Felt.

And a few other people just came to the surrounding benches and sat.

Just sat.

Watching, listening, feeling…being.

And just like that, you remember what you’re supposed to be doing. And everything else melts away.

Thanks again for setting me straight Lake Shrine.

Until the next time…

June 28, 2013
Piece by Piece

A few recent gradual revelations are telling me that perhaps part of me feels like I’m coming into my own in a lot of respects as far as photography is concerned. And I suppose it’s really just a matter of perspective and paying attention rather than just letting life happen and allowing the monotony to take charge of the psyche. Day in and day out I’m editing photos robotically for a website, and many of the photos are photos I’d never think to take myself – small, close-up details, seemingly devoid of context.

I’m so constantly focused on the large wide sweeping shots, so much so that my camera almost always sleeps with my 11-16mm on it, that sometimes it’s hard to remember that often times, it’s in the details that the most awe-inspiring imagery can come from, and I think it’s due to the clash of the two different styles that my life has been recently oscillating between that context to such contrasts can be extracted.

On the one hand, I spend so much of my own personal time in the outdoors, looking to try to capture those landscapes that make us remember and appreciate the beauty that life and the world holds –

BIG.

Then, on the other hand, for work, I find myself photographing and editing photos of homes and properties, in which so much more is being said by the details – the textures in the concrete surrounding a marble fountain, the way the shadows of a lattice fall upon a watering can sitting alongside a charming wooden bungalow, the contrast of a purple wildflower growing alongside a yellow window frame –

SMALL.

And it’s these hidden gems of discovery that remind me that you can learn something from every job, from every situation, and take that, use it, and grow from it.

In this case, I’ve been learning to train myself to basically, yes, keep my eyes open for those cinematic sweeping scopes, but at the same time, not ignore what’s directly in front of me…those small quaint and charming additions and details. After all, it’s a culmination of all of those combined, piece by piece, that make up the whole.

cottage.

June 5, 2013