6th Annual Photo Alphabet – Metaphors to Place

December 29, 2013 by 1 Comment

M is for Metaphors.

Looking at the Past

Mission Past © 2013 Bo Mackison

Much is happening in the coming year. For the past year, I’ve been defining myself and my work, considering who my “perfect people” are – those who most connect with my work – and what I might offer of value.

And so I offer my first online workshop.

Rearview Mirror

Rearview Mirror © 2013 Bo Mackison

Photography and Metaphor: A Springboard into Self-Expression and Exploration will take place in February 2014.

We will focus on making photographs to use as metaphors. Then we’ll use our “photo metaphors” as creative springboards into contemplative writing and other expressive arts projects.

Details and registration information will be announced in early January.

~~~

N is for National Parks.

Grand Canyon 7:26 PM

Grand Canyon 7:26 PM © 2012 Bo Mackison

I have a deep and lengthy love affair with the National Parks and Monuments.

I visited many National Parks on family vacations in the 1960s. Sherpa and I spent our honeymoon at a national park. When our children were of a long distance traveling age, we assembled our family of five and took three-week long, cross-country trips, exploring and camping at National Parks and Monuments whenever we could. Sherpa and I still travel to National Park destinations. And when I travel alone, once again, I map my travels so I can visit the National Parks.

At the end of each year, I note the parks I’ve visited in the past 12 months. They are easy to recall, because I record each visit in a National Park Passport. Whenever I visit a park, I stamp my book. It’s a ritual I’ve been doing since 1997, and I’m currently stamping my third passport book.

Parks I visited in 2013.

On day trips or weekend camping trips in Arizona:

Saguaro NP, Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Chiricahua NM, Coronado NM, and Tumacacori NHP.

While traveling on my Circle Tour of Arizona in April, long distance practice for my solo cross-country trip:

Casa Grande Ruins NM, Montezuma Castle NM, Tonto NM, and Tuzigoot NM.

While on my cross-country trek from the Southwest to the Midwest:

Petrified Forest NP, Mesa Verde NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, Scotts Bluff NM, Agate Fossil Beds NM, Mount Rushmore NM, Wind Cave NP, Jewel Cave NM, Badlands NP.  No wonder it took me so long to get home, zigzagging to visit out-of-the-way parks!

When traveling with family:

Lassen Volcanic NP, Redwoods NP (California)

Twenty in all. Wow!

~~~

O is for Oceans.

Inlet

Olympia © 2013 Bo Mackison

Some of my most memorable times of this year I spent standing on ocean shores, mesmerized with the infinite waves. I never tired of studying the constant, yet ever-changing waves.

Staring out into the ocean triggers my imagination.

There is nothing but the relentless pounding surf, and yet an entire world exists in its depths. Even though my feet are solidly upon the sandy or rocky shore, I feel a resonance with the deep beyond, a connection I can only imagine.

Relentless. Changing. Hidden depth. And a connection, strong and intangible.

 ~~~

P is for Place.

Light Puzzle

Light Puzzle © 2013 Bo Mackison

I am intensely devoted to place.

Place is the setting I settle into, deeply, with reverence, with attention. A place of nature, history, culture. Urban, rural, wilderness. A visit in solitude, with a friend, or be one in a crowd of people.

I see the sacred in all places.

There are rare times when I want only to be one with the place, experience it with only with my senses, unencumbered by camera or journal. But I feel most in synch with place when, after I have absorbed the space in quiet, I then reinforce my memory with my photography or journal practice.

 

Territorial Architecture in Tubac

Place © 2013 Bo Mackison

One of my joys, when I contemplate a place, is to take a set of deliberate photographs.

This may seem at odds with taking inspired, intuitive, capture-the-moment shots. I don’t believe so. I take those kinds of instinctive photographs also. My deliberate photographs of place purposely expose a larger view of place, capturing it in different moods.

To collect a set of place photos, I take photographs that may include: a panoramic view, a landscape, perhaps a portrait or an intimate landscape (a photo of a subject in the context of the landscape), and a close up photo.

Place photos can capture moods — such as the first photo of layers of leaves captured in sunlight. They can capture the feel of a place in its architecture and surrounding details.

When I combine photographs with a few words, I create a photo-journal of place – a contemplative portrait documented in my art.

~~~

Prior post: Invitation to Labyrinth

Next post: Quilt to Trees

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5th Annual Photo Alphabet – Part III

December 28, 2012 by 10 Comments

I is for iPhonography and Imagination

All in Green

All in Green © 2012 Bo Mackison

In just a few short years, taking photographs with a cell phone has become its own niche. iPhonography with a multitude of apps for in camera processing and post processing, can do amazing things. Photographs I never dreamed of creating can be created in just seconds. My imagination goes a bit wild when I start playing with my iPhone’s capabilities. I am less hesitant to explore and more open to the weird and unusual.

For me personally, iPhones and other smart phone cameras do not take the place of my more traditional camera gear. But my cell phone camera sure has one advantage that most other cameras do not have. It is always with me.

And the best camera in the world is the one that is with you when you want to take a photograph.

J is for Joy and Journal Writing

Road Trip - Joy Kansas

Joy, Kansas © 2012 Bo Mackison

At first glance, you might wonder what this photograph of a grain elevator taken on the wide open plains of middle America has to do with Joy and Journal Writing. But it is a real life example of the Joy I find from my daily practice of photography and journal writing.

The photo is a snippet from my travel log I wrote as I traveled across the United States. This grain elevator is in the tiny town of Joy, Kansas.  That may be important or it may not be. But it is a part of my life, a part that I took time to document. I don’t write down everything nor do I take photos of most places. But I document enough about the daily bits of my day-to-day activities.

Here’s why this brings me such Joy. When I return to the notations in my journal, re-read a passage, look through the sketches I crudely drew in the margins, find a ticket stub or a pamphlet describing a sightseeing treat, I instantly re-create memories of that time in my life. They may seem trivial, but they are moments I have lived.

And I love being able to open a journal or a set of photographs and get transported back in time. So much is so easily forgotten. The things I often read about I would never remember without these memory jogs. They may be important only to me, but that is enough. More than enough.

K is for Knowledge and Keys.

Locked Gate

Gate without a Key © 2011 Bo Mackison

I once lived for a while in a place where there were locks, but no keys.

I spent many hours of ‘most every day holed up in a corner of a library, in a room of a thousands books, but it offered none of the knowledge I sought.

Then I went out into the world, far away from what was safe, comfortable, known.

And there I found myself – uncertain yet hopeful, silent yet filled with song. And the sun warmed me and I walked the earth and I gave thanks.

L is for Labyrinth.

Garden Maze

Garden Labyrinth © 2011 Bo Mackison

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? The kind where, once you begin, you follow along, around and back, and come to the center, where you can stand awhile or continue on and finally you come out at the end which is next to the beginning, and there is no way, when you follow the lines, that you can do it wrong or get lost or bump into some one else.

There is a pace and that pace has a peace. Not at all like real life, though to me it feels exactly like real life.

M is for Meditating, Mindfulness, and the Muse.

Meditative...

Meditating…© 2012 Bo Mackison

I love this photograph. I took it while I was walking along a park in New york City, a park resurrected from an abandoned railway corridor called the High Line. Usually the park is crowded with people – walking, enjoying the art installations or sampling the food from vendors. Maybe watching a dance troupe or dancing to a jazz trio. But early on this cool June morning, with threats of rain in the forecast, the park was nearly deserted.

It was the perfect place to sit for a while, absorb the beauty of the natural plants growing amidst the tracks and seating spaces. I wasn’t the only person in the park who was doing some slow work while the city bustled around us.

Meditation, even for twenty minutes or a half hour, has become a daily part of my morning. It sets my internal thermostat at an even temperature, and helps me prepare for the rest of the day. Doing meditation coupled with a mindfulness practice during the day not only slows me down so I can get my work done, it also makes room for my muse to visit with amazing frequency.

Less pressure, more ideas, more creative energy.

——————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Part IV of the 5th Annual Photo Alphabet continues with Nature thru Quest.

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An Alphabet in Four Parts – III

January 2, 2011 by 12 Comments
Cosmos at Sho-Low

Cosmos and Bokeh © 2010 Bo Mackison

Continuing with the third installment of my alphabet, my year-end/beginning musings:

N is for NEST.

NEST. Nest is simple and symbolic. It’s a comfort word for me. I hold it as a quiet space, away from distractions and other people. Sometimes I curl up in my nest, real or imaginary, to recharge my batteries. Doesn’t take long, and then I’m ready to go on and meet the world again.

O is for ORDINARY.

ORDINARY. When you get right down to it, there isn’t much that is ordinary. If you look closely and examine ordinariness, you often find that the ordinary is truly extra-ordinary. For example, drinking a steaming cup of tea, a simple experience, can be made extra-ordinary with intention, mindfulness, and appreciation for the good things in life.

P is for POTATO.

POTATO. The potato provided me with a powerful lesson. Yes, the potato. A basic food, everyone loves potatoes – mashed, smashed, french fried, baked, even raw and crunchy. Everyone I know eats potatoes – except for my older daughter who has taken only one bite of potato in her life. She decided that she despised the texture and taste and she swore off potatoes as a two year old. Twenty-eight years later, she continues to stand by her choice.

Here is the interesting part. Whenever a new person enters her life, and they discover that Jeanne does not eat potatoes because she  chooses not to eat them, they almost always go out of their way to trick her — to get her to unknowingly take a bite of a potato. It becomes a challenge for them.

Interesting, hmm? She tells people she doesn’t like potatoes, that she doesn’t eat them, and because that doesn’t fit squarely with other people’sapproach to food, they want to convince her to join their side. Now, we are talking about potatoes here. I’m always amazed that this happens repeatedly.  It makes me wonder.  If people react so strongly to a different eating style, just how far will they go to make people conform to their way of thinking about the important topics in life. Now there’s a potato for thought.

Q is for QUESTIONS.

QUESTIONS. I love asking questions. I love searching for answers to questions, too. And researching for answers to questions, too. To me, searching and researching are two different methods of knowledge seeking. In searching, I look for answers in my head and in past learning experiences. In researching, I look up what other people have discovered about the subject. Search and research–I think the two methods balances the quest for knowledge quite nicely.

R is for RELINQUISH.

RELINQUISH. I relinquish the story I hold dear. The story of why I am like I am, of how I can’t change because this experience or that exchange marked me for life. Bull hockey. Change isn’t easy. It’s damn hard work. But change is possible. And I am dealing in possibilities from this day forward. Tabula rasa. A clean slate. I can deal with some leftover chalk dust or a few wayward chalk smears, but I am erasing that complicated story. No more worn out explanations that stand in my way of new explorations.

S is for SURVIVOR.

SURVIVOR. I am a survivor. Survivors develop a deep strength within themselves. Sometimes I forget I have this strength. It takes a big challenge to remind me that I can draw strength from my past experiences without dredging up those experiences. A valuable lesson.

T is for TREASURE MAP.

TREASURE MAP. I made a treasure map a few days ago while thinking about leaving 2010 behind and entering 2011. I didn’t write resolutions, but I did choose a single word as my focus for the year – POSSIBILITIES. Then I drew islands on my treasure map. I filled in one island with my dreams. I filled in another island with my desires. I filled in a third with my goals for the next three months, six months, and year. I added a few favorite quotations for inspiration and motivation and a few words clipped from newspaper headlines for guidelines. Then I hung the map in my studio where I can see it everyday as I work. I love treasure maps!

The Finale — Underwear through Zest.

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An Alphabet in Four Parts – I

December 30, 2010 by 7 Comments
Straight as Soldiers

Don’t Fence Me In © 2010 Bo Mackison

This is the third annual edition of my End of the Old Year-Beginning of the New Year.  An Alphabet.

It’s another mish-mash of ideas, dreams, reflections on both the past year, and on past lessons, some learned, some learned not so well. There are a few to-do’s, some to-hope-for’s, gratitude for the many blessings in my life, and heartfelt good wishes to all for the coming New Year.

An Alphabet, 2010 – Part I


A is for ABRACADABRA.

ABRACADABRA.  Do you believe in fairies and in magic? I would LIKE to believe in magic, but I’ve learned over my many years here on earth that, in most cases, it’s hard work that works, not magic.

B is for BUMBLEBEE.

BUMBLEBEE. A few years I was told a story about how a bumblebee is a most unlikely insect, too heavy to fly with its tiny un-aerodynamic wing set-up, and yet it does. Later, I read this was all hogwash, that a bee most certainly had the proper body parts for flight. I rather like to believe the first story though, believe that life and living does exist on the very edge of possibility.

C is for CANYON.

CANYON. Once upon a time, a couple decades ago, I went camping with my family. We stayed in Colorado National Monument in western Colorado. Sherpa, and my teen-aged kids wanted to go on an ambitious hike descending to the canyon floor, starting at above 6,000 feet of elevation and dropping to near 5,000 feet, with a series of switchbacks that made it seem like the crookedest trail in the world. Not too many problem going down, of course. But coming back up was a totally different proposition. The kids skipped ahead, leaving Sherpa to toss me words of encouragement as he hiked 30 feet further up the trail. I was not a happy camper, nor was I a happy canyon climber. But no one was going to get me out of that canyon except ME. One laborious step at a time. I do admit to saying more than a few cranky words as I hauled myself up the switchbacks, but I eventually hauled myself to level ground. Yep, the old one-step-at-a-time tale.

D is for DUMPSTER.

DUMPSTER. I carry a “dumpster” in my pocket. All those negative thoughts, all those words that hurt my feelings because I am way too sensitive? They get tossed in the dumpster. If I run into a really difficult streak, I write down all those thoughts that twirl in my head and ceremoniously stick them in my dumpster pocket. And, no, I do not re-read them. When I’ve had a run on negativity, and my dumpster is getting full, I do a ritual to get rid of all those cranky thoughts. Sometimes I “throw out” the contents of the dumpster by gluing the paper pieces upside down in my journal, and then writing or making art right on top of them. Poof. All those thoughts transformed!

E is for ENERGY.

ENERGY. This past year I have found a huge well of energy I never knew I had. All because I am doing something I love to do – photography. And the amazing thing,  as I do more and more with my photography, I find I have more and more energy to get things accomplished. It really is true. If you love what you do, if it makes meaning in your life, it makes the doing easier. Not easy. Just easier.

F is for FEATHERS.

FEATHERS. As in impossible. Take a feather pillow, unzip the cover, and shake all those fluffy bits from a third story window. In a tornado. (The Midwest is well-known for its tornado tendencies.) After the feathers have flown halfway across the continent, word comes down from the Big Boss that the pillow needs to be re-stuffed–with the ORIGINAL feathers. Impossible. Life is like that sometimes. The task ahead of you is utterly impossible. You study the available courses of action and pragmatically decide, no matter how hard you work at the solutions, a re-stuffed pillow is simply not going to happen. The problem has to be re-examined and either solved a different way–perhaps acquire NEW (improved) feathers – or the problem has to be set aside and not solved at all. Sometimes, there is wisdom in knowing when to change courses, back-up, or simply stand still and take deep breaths.

Part II,  Gardens through Minute Rice

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My New Year’s Day Project

January 7, 2010 by 13 Comments
A New Years Day Photo

Windy, Wintry Welcome to 2010

I had hoped to kick off 2010 with this writing project, but I didn’t have it done. Better finished a week into the year, than never finished. (See F). Here are my January musings from snowy Wisconsin. It’s a bit of a mish-mash. There are some to-do’s, some to-hope-for’s, some gratitude mentions, a bit of a summary of last year, and a welcome for the New Year.

2010 ABCs

A is for Acceptance.

Accept who I am, where I am at this time in my life. Accept all those parts of life I can’t change. Accept the challenges to work on the changes I can make.

B is for Balance.

Balance is my word for the year. It may end up being my word for the decade if I remain a slow learner in this area. I’m a Libra, born under the sign of the scale. You’d think I might have a head start on this balance issue, but no, I’m still learning.

C is for Crash Landings.

Seems I learn best after being startled to awareness. I could do with a few less crash landings, maybe a few more cushioned landings. Meanwhile, I will pay attention to the crash landing lessons. Not that I have much of a choice. Maybe I could pay attention to the crash landing lessons with less resistance. Now that I can work on.

D is for Details.

I could try to focus on world hunger issues, but I can make a difference if I donate to the neighborhood food pantry. I could worry about the impossibility of achieving world peace, but I can make a difference if I smile at the harried woman standing in the long line in front of me. I could fret about my retirement plan and it still won’t magically recover, but I can help myself feel better by noticing the new buds on my orchid plant. Details. I can do details.

E is for Elephant in the Living Room.

As in, I cannot hide the obvious, so I may as well deal with it. And while I’m dealing in elephants, one more reference – an elephant joke that is also applicable to life in general. Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time.

F is for Finishing.

I have a million ideas. I have a hundred projects going. Now I am committed to do the finishing part, pick a project, finish the editing, and send that baby out into the world. Then repeat, over and over.

G is for Gratitude.

Nearly every evening I write a few lines in my gratitude journal. Unlike other journal commitments, this takes me less than a minute, possibly the most important and beneficial minute I spend in my entire day.

H is for Home.

I am of two spirits: the travel junkie and the home body. When I am out on the road, I love to explore, meet new people, dig deeply into the cultures I am visiting. When I am home, I am happiest caressed deep within my studio. Books, writing materials, art supplies, simple food, a stash of photographs to work through. Good times!

I is for Italy.

Visit Italy is one of those big, juicy, long term goals I wrote in a journal many years ago and have never forgotten. My original plan was to visit Italy in April 2010. Sherpa (see S) has a four week sabbatical coming due, so it’s a once in a lifetime trip. Global economic change interrupted the time table but not the goal. I find this a little amazing. I am not great with long term goals, but I have managed to keep Italy alive. So each month, a reasonable sum of money goes into the Italy account. We are learning Italian – the basics – with Rosetta Stone software. I read one page of my tour guidebook every night. I talk about Italy with people who have been there. And I have a large April 2011 calendar hanging in my studio. In each day’s square, the word ‘Italy’ is written. In pen. In big letters. The better to see and motivate.

J is for Jazz.

No, not the music. The black cat I adopted a year and a half ago. She is my constant companion, usually at my side, often patting my face when I try to sleep, draped around my neck while I am sitting in front of the computer screen, racing me up or down the stairs, always begging for attention. Jazz has a history of neglect and is one of the neediest creatures I’ve ever met. She teaches me important relationship lessons every day.

K is for Knowledge-Seeking.

Ah, that’s a wide term that encompasses reading books, internet research, lectures, workshops, museum visits, deep conversations with wise folks – the best roads to new discoveries. Beam me up for more, Scotty!

L is for Limit-Busting.

All those excuses that I use so I don’t have to show up and be seen? Go away.

M is for Mindfulness.

Mindfulness has become a popular concept. I find its benefits proclaimed frequently in my reading and conversations. I first studied the concept of Mindfulness in the fall of 2006 when I began a yearlong course. And as simple as the concept sounds – stay in the moment – it is deceptively difficult. Even after a year of study with a trained facilitator, and several more years of practice on my own, I am still a novice. I find myself worrying about the past, and planning the future, but staying with the present moment requires lots of concentration on my part. Nonetheless, I practice often. I find it calming, grounding, necessary.

N is for Nature.

Thank goodness I can escape into the natural world at a moment’s notice. Though I don’t always succeed when I have to dash in and out of nature in the coldest months, I do like to spend a part of every day connecting to the natural world. Usually I explore with camera in hand, or with pencil and paper, but this coming year I want to focus on going out with nothing more than my senses to exercise.

O is for Oops.

As in “Oops, there goes another rubber tree…oops, there goes another rubber tree…oops, there goes another rubber tree plant.” A hit song, the original from 1959, and one I listened to and sang as a little girl. High Hopes. It makes a great theme song.

P is for Photography.

Photography is my life. Hmm, that sounds a little dramatic. OK.

Q is for Quest.

Onward.

R is for Ritual.

I have a little treasure trove of trinkets, talismans, a collection of tiny things that I do a sort of ritual with. No hocus pocus or magic, just little reminders for me. Sometimes I’ll carry one or two in my pocket. Or I’ll line them in a row on my desk as I’m working. I have a carved armadillo, a fetish I purchased in New Mexico in 1999, fashioned from dolomite by a Zuni carver. Rounded, unadorned. A reminder to just keep moving in a deliberate fashion, slowly, but forward. There’s a tiny jade fish from New York City Chinatown. In Chinese culture, the fish is a symbol for abundance of wealth and good luck, but I like to think of it as a reminder of what I have, the non-material stuff. I have a tiny, metallic gold, smiling Buddha. He reminds me that life is good, so smile. I have a single pearl, a gift from my grandmother and a tribute to my  strong women ancestors who have traveled on this path before me.

S is for Sherpa.

Sherpa is the funny but meaningful name I sometimes call my husband of 33 years. He is my companion and my guide and my soul mate. We’ve traveled far together, he is another who walks with me on this grand journey we call life. (I admit he does often carry a lot of my camera gear, too.)

T is for my Three Twenty-something Children.

This is the first full year that my children are all adults. They are all embarking on careers or finishing their education with a specific career goal in mind. No longer do they ask my permission to visit a friend or go on an overnight or fly across the country. They are all on their own and I love to see them in action, full of plans and ideas, and combined with the energy and courage to see them through.

U is for U-turn.

I used to think the U-turn was all about photography – the difficulty I experienced in taking time to turn around and photograph what I had just driven past. It was all too easy to say “never mind” rather than slow down and go back. Now I think it has a lot to do with many parts of my life. I zoom by a little piece of living, and then give it a second thought. And I think, “Why not slow down and experience the moment?”  It’s hard to live on the slow path – there is so much to check off on my life’s to-do list. But the idea of slowing down is gaining momentum. Slow food, slow art, slow dance. Now that’s better living, right?

V is for Vagabond.

I am a study of opposites, for as much as I am a home-body and an introvert to the nth degree, I also love to travel. I love to plan trips, and I spend some of my happiest moments working on my travel itineraries. They are always loosely constructed, full of notes on hundreds of opportunities and options for each destination. I love to discover hidden places and spaces. Currently I am at the idea-jotting stage for a swing through the western US National Parks in September and gearing up to finish the plans for a February trip to Arizona.  And then, there’s Italy, always on my mind. (see I)

W is for Work.

There was a long period in my life – many years – when I was unable to do any sort of work due to a recurring, debilitating illness. The career I trained for in college became an impossibility. I was forced to put any notion of productive work aside, finding myself unable to manage much of any sustained activity. But the last couple of years have been good to me. Gradually I’ve begun to add work back into my life. I’ve found work that fits into my own time table. Work is maintaining a writing schedule. Work is taking a variety of photographs – nature, travel, architecture.  Work is readying my art for exhibition. Work has added a huge dimension of meaning to my life.

X is for eXamine.

I usually put time in my daily schedule for reflection, meditation, intention setting.

Y is for Yogurt.

And other healthy food. I’ve been shifting towards a healthier diet. No, I am not giving up my occasional chocolate treat, but I am more aware of what I ask my body and mind to run on. First, I’ve learned to eat on a schedule. When I don’t pay attention, I sometimes forget to eat my first meal of the day until mid-afternoon. I was letting myself run completely out of fuel. So I try to eat 5 small meals throughout the day. Keeping processed food out of my kitchen and fast food stops down to a bare minimum also helps big time.

Z is for Zero Tolerance.

I used to let the gremlins – code word for negative self talk – have a field day in my head. I’d invite them in, set them up in cozy chairs, offer them a hot cup of tea, and then pay close attention to what they had to say. No more. I now have in force a zero tolerance policy for gremlin talk. Not listening. Nada. I hear nothing. Gremlins no longer have an open invitation.

So there’s my 2010 ABC project.

One project completed! (See F). If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, thanks for stopping by, and a special big thanks to those of you who comment. I love you all. If you’ve stumbled on this as a first time visitor, I hope you’ll come back. The emphasis is usually on photographs, not alphabets, but this post is in honor of a new year and a new decade.

Happy New Year to all!

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