Journey to the Edge

Lake Michigan and Shore Grasses - at Sunrise

Lake Michigan and Shore Grasses – at Sunrise ©2012 Bo Mackison

We do not receive wisdom,
we must discover it for ourselves,
after a journey through the wilderness
which no one else can make for us,
which no one can spare us,
for our wisdom is the point of view
from which we come at last to regard the world.

Marcel Proust

 On a recent trip to Door County, I set my alarm for an hour before sunrise. Each time I visit, I make a point to cross the narrow peninsula, from my bay side motel to one of the lake side beaches or harbors, and set up my sunrise camp. There I am afforded an unobstructed view of sunrise, only Lake Michigan to my east and the hint of a dawn soon to come.

I love watching as the sun pops up from the horizon. I love the darkness turning to daylight. I love the feeling of being on the very edge of a new day, on the edge of the earth between earth and water, on the edge of the beach between sandy shore and lush beach vegetation. I love taking photographs with the scene bathed in the golden glow of early morning light. I don’t much care for taking photos of the actual sunrise (or sunset for that matter) but I do love turning my camera away from that giant source of light, and shooting in the opposite direction.

In this case, I was standing on a sandy stretch of beach near the Ridges Sanctuary, and nearby was a stretch of sand filled with a dense growth of beach grasses. I was positioned just north of Bailey’s Harbor (the water) and so a bit of Lake Michigan and Bailey’s Harbor (the village) are in the background.

It was a bit of a journey through wilderness to another discovery of wonder.

—————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is busy with packing notes and to do lists. She is traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to exhibit her photography at the Third Ward Art Festival  this weekend.

 

About Bo Mackison

I'm a photographer, book-artist, traveler, naturalist, and creator of the Contemplative Creatives Journey, An Online Workshop and Community and Desert Wisdom Cards and Workshops. Though often not well known, I find the desert a welcoming place - a healing space. Its mysteries and gifts transformed me several years ago. Since that first encounter, I return again and again to fill my well in what most people think of as a desolate region. I'd love to share my desert discoveries and wisdom with you. Please subscribe to receive my five part mini email course The Gifts of the Desert. It's my gift to you.

Comments

  1. You know Bo I’ve seen lots of bits of that quote before, but never this:

    “our wisdom is the point of view
    from which we come at last to regard the world.”

    That really rings true and is for me the true joy and delight and sometimes challenge of photography, learning to find my own point of view.

    Thanks for the aha!

  2. Joanne Keevers says

    On the edge of wonder, with so much to enjoy in the moment and also to look forward to. 🙂

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