Twilight and Transition – Shadows Deepen Upon the Earth

Prairie Twilight

Wisconsin Twilight © 2014 Bo Mackison

“I love that the morning’s sunrise does not define itself by last night’s sunset.” ~ Steve Maraboli

Last evening, twilight was not a fiery, orange blaze sunset, filling the sky with colors indescribable.

It was instead of red ball burning through the haze of clouds, dropping off the horizon in grays with streaks of pinks. A quiet affair, as sunsets go. Still awe-inspiring. Always awe-inspiring.

I watch every sunrise and sunset, weather permitting. It is ritual for me.

They mark the beginning and the end of each day cycle for me, not only their beauty, but deeply in my consciousness. Beginnings. Endings.

Tonight ends and so ends this day, and I have done all I can.

Morning comes and I begin yet another day. What opportunities will this day offer? What opportunities will I accept? No comparisons required, no “this sunset was better than yesterday’s sunset”.

Each sunset – magnificent. Every sunrise – a blessing and a gift.

Endings and beginnings.

It is a lesson repeated daily. It’s easy to grasp on to what is, resistant to what is yet to come. And still sunrise follows sunset, endlessly throughout our brief time on this earth.

Always an ending, always a beginning.

Twilight View of North Rim’s Grand Canyon Lodge and Beyond

Sunset at the North Rim ©2014 Bo Mackison

Sunset at the North Rim ©2014 Bo Mackison

A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.” ~ Dennis Waitley

Twilight Gifts of Autumn

Pool at Sunset

Reflection Pool at Sunset © 2013 Bo Mackison

“Every day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbon.’ ~ Ruth Ann Schabacker

A walk through gardens in an autumn evening is a gentling walk. The colors are muted, less brilliant than in full summer sunlight, yet they take on a preciousness of their own. Nuances of colors, the mark of changing seasons. A few late season flowers bloom in full glory, surrounded by dropped petals and browning blossoms of flowers past their prime.

The reflection pool, at rest in the evening pause, takes on the autumn colors of yellows, oranges. The last water lilies are in bloom. The grasses, seeded, shimmer in gold and silver. Leaves fall, catch the slightest of breezes, and quiver through the air.

It is a peaceful time, this transition time from sunset to twilight.

Transition – A Desert Wisdom Card

Rolling Mountain Ranges

Twilight over the Mountains © 2013 Bo Mackison

Feel ecstatic that there is no end to life, that when you have reached one peak, suddenly another peak starts giving you challenges — a higher one, a more arduous climb, a more dangerous reach. And when you have reached the other peak, there will be another peak; peaks upon peaks. ~ Osho

Each evening the sun slides from our view, yet its brilliant light show lingers in deep hues of oranges and reds.

Gradually, so gradually, the darkness deepens until there is only dark sky. The day is over; night is upon us. From experience, we know that twilight passes into night, night lightens into dawn, and dawn brings forth a new day.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” ~Henri Berson

 Our life is filled with transitions also. Life is change, no part of life is constant.

We live, passing through transitions, firm in the knowledge that when shadows settle on us, and when night makes all dark, faith reminds us that the darkness will gradually lighten into a glorious dawn and then transition into the light of day in which we can clearly see.

Transitions are often difficult. It is easier, more comfortable, less anxiety-provoking to live in the false illusion of constancy, yet nothing in nature is constant, and we are a part of nature. Once we open our minds and hearts and souls to the acceptance of change as a constant, we are better able to transition, to ride the up and down roller-coaster of living a full, authentic life.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out…  ~ Maya Angelou

TRANSITION offers questions/reflections for journal writing, art, and a call for action:

  •  It is human to resist change, to fear transitions, but life’s forward movement is unstoppable. When facing a time of transition, know and accept that this time may be one of increased stress, anxiety, fear. When you know you are working through a transition, your first step is to plan extreme self-care. The basics: are you eating the right foods, getting enough sleep, moving your body, making time for quiet and solitude.  All are essential – when you are in a balanced space, you can more easily keep your footing through times of upheaval and change.
  • At a time in my life when I was developing the skills to successfully negotiate transitions, I created a mini blank book, about 3″ x 2″ in size. It had about 12 pages. I carried it in my pocket so I could easily refer to it. Each page was a visual reminder for a life-skill — methods for grounding, dealing with difficult or challenging times, for problem solving through transitions.
    • These books are super simple to create, with just a few pieces of folded paper.  I made the cover of my book from an old map — a symbol for having the directions to find your way. Each page had a skill – a simple line drawing, a few words. Make a book for yourself.
    • Among the skills I included in my book were visualizing a safe place and repeating a simple mantra for calming. Fill your mini-book with the techniques you find most beneficial when dealing with transitions. Use as needed!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo is creating a deck of Desert Wisdom Cards for exploration and discovery, using a Sonoran Desert theme – its myths and stories, cultures and heritage, and the desert’s remarkable natural beauty and resources.

 

Descent at Twilight

Approaching NYC

Approaching NYC © 2012 Bo Mackison

Living on the edges means recognizing those places and experiences that do not offer easy answers, those fierce edges of life where things are not as clear as we hope them to be. There is also beauty in the border spaces, those places of ambiguity and mystery. ~ Christine Valters Paintner

I am in New York City.

Sherpa and I flew in a few days ago, had a beautiful view of the city as we landed. Twinkling lights, rows of brighter street lights, the sun already set in the west but still lighting the skies with those border colors between day and night – the ribbons of yellows, oranges, purples, grays.

We spent a busy weekend walking the streets in Midtown, walking the criss-cross of trails and paths and roads in Central Park. We visited with our eldest who took the train in from Long Island. She’s lived in a half-dozen places in NYC, and so, is more than qualified to know the ins and outs. We had a couple of marvelous meals in out-of-the-way spaces, and of course fit in a few touristy type activities, too.

But today Sherpa heads to a training course – the real reason we are here – and our daughter returned to LI for the start of the work week. That leaves me here, on my own-some, with plenty of plans and a couple of maps and a list of places I would love to visit. And yet, here I am, still in the hotel room at 8:30, in that place of ambiguity, on my own personal border where I will have to sacrifice my comfort if I want to explore the beauty in the border spaces, in the places I am not familiar with, nor at ease with.

There was a time, not all that many years ago, where I chose to stay in the hotel while others took care of their city business, waiting for someone to return. Only then would I venture beyond the places and spaces I knew.

This spring I managed living solo near Tucson, a frequent visitor to a desert I did not know, but taught myself to love by frequent visits. And so I shall do the same with the streets of New York. Perhaps it isn’t my beloved desert nor my familiar Midwest prairies and forests, perhaps in my mind I am as far from the Sonoran Desert or the Northwoods as I can imagine. But I am on my way, out the door.

The only way I will learn to love this new space is to explore it, be okay with the ambiguity and embrace the mystery.

So . . . off I go.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She lives in the Midwest, loves the Southwest, and is now exploring the Big Apple. With her camera, of course!