Rusted Gate

Rusty Gate

Rusted Gate © 2012 Bo Mackison

I beg you to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a foreign language. Don’t search for the answers which would not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

There was a time when my whole life was a question. And I couldn’t find the answer.  And that worried me greatly. I thought it was important, as I had been taught in years of schooling, that finding the correct answer to the question was paramount to success.

It took me many years to realize that there is never only one correct answer to any question of substance. That there are many correct answers depending on who is answering the question.

And then it took me a few more years to realize that it wasn’t always necessary or even in my best interest, to answer every question. Sometimes it was better to only glimpse the answer, just as the courtyard behind the massive, woven gate in the photograph provides only a glimpse of the inner goings-on.

The gate is heavy, it may be old if one associates rust with antiquity, or it may only have been specially treated to look old. The passing of years often speaks of wisdom, of knowing the answers.

Is the gate a gate of protection? If so, the gate provides security, even as it allows a view, the flow of air, a sense of art in the simple yet artistically designed gate.

Life is not always what it seems to be. I think of a gate and anticipate it will bar my way, it will prevent me from finding answers to my questions. Instead, the gate is merely an object on my passage through my day. If I continue long enough on my journey of exploration, I just may live my way into the answers I seek.

Do you have questions you want answered quickly? Can you wait for the answers, even if it takes a lifetime?

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is traveling in Arizona, no longer seeking answers at this time in her life, but simply paying very close attention to the many questions she asks.

Lemonade and Izze – Living in the Moment

Lemonade and Izze

Lemonade and Izze © 2012 Bo Mackison

A glass of lemonade and a cold bottle of Pomegranate Izze. Living in the moment — ahhh!

So this photograph of two beverages is the perfect reminder to live in the moment. It’s not every day I get to spend a couple of hours with my younger daughter – the youngest of my three kids – sitting in an outdoor cafe in Bisbee, Arizona, sipping freshly squeezed lemonade – the puckery kind – and a Pomegranate Izze. Munching on chorizo and cabbage burritos. Laughing and telling snippets of life stories – some recent, some a decade old, some two decades old. Walking along the up and down sidewalks of Bisbee Arizona, peering at the window displays of the shops and galleries, occasionally wandering through a gallery, oohing and aahing over a painting or a sculpture. So much talent! Admiring the many buildings – schools, homes, businesses – many perched in precarious positions against the mountains.

At one point our conversation drifted to Manda’s propensity for conversation when she was a toddler and preschooler. She loved nothing more than to carry on a  lengthy conversation about any topic. She was, and still is, one of the most inquisitive people I know. We played a game for several years, one I devised so that I could get some work done while still entertaining my young conversationalist. When we were talking about it the other day, we both wondered how much this game influenced Manda’s education and the way she thinks and comes up with answers.

We played our game throughout the day. It would start simply enough.

I would make an observation. “Look, the first robin of the season. The robins are back.”

My then three-year-old would say, “Where do they come back from?”

I would offer a simple explanation. “They don’t like the cold weather and snow, so they go to a warmer place during winter.”

Manda would look at me as if I had just told her the biggest whopper ever heard by a three-year old.

So I would counter offer. “Well, what do you think happens to the robins?”

And this is where the fun would begin. Looking back, I wish I had written more of her answers in my journal. Only a few were documented.  Some of her conclusions were hysterical, some were thoughtful, some were fanciful, but they all displayed a certain ability to think and be creative. What an amazing thing, yes?

Here are a few lines I once wrote about the return of the robins. After I gave her the straight answer, I would ask Manda is she could think of any other answers. She would give me one and then another, and another. The game continued until she ran out of answers or lost interest.All answers were acceptable.

“The robins go down in the holes with the rabbits.”

‘The robins fly to Grandma’s ( 300 miles south and considerably warmer) and live in her attic.”

“The robins sleep under my bed and they are very, very quiet. I only hear them when they fight.”

“The robins play hide and seek and you don’t see them. I know where they hide.”

And on and on.

Then she would go off and play. That is, until we began the next question and answer game.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC, living and photographing in southern Arizona. Visits from her family are always appreciated. 🙂