desert – Page 4

Patience – A Desert Wisdom Card

September 15, 2014 by Bo Mackison 1 Comment

“Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can – working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well! ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Patience. Certainly a wisdom gift of the desert. Certainly a quality required when one is actually walking/living/being in the desert, and for those desert-like times when life feels arid and silent, or overwhelming and fragmented.

I love this photograph, a photo taken at Mission San Xavier del Bac, a mission church in southern Arizona built in the 1700s. The church took decades to build by hand with primitive tools.

There were no supplies of paint or marble or fabric. Even the wood had to be hauled from a distance of twenty miles. They built the walls with lime-kiln clay. They carved statues from wood and dyed them brilliant colors using both native dyes and imported gilding. They carved shells, roping, and drapery-like sculptures for windows ornamentation and the choir. They painted wall murals and patterned arches. They sculpted a baptismal font and painted it to look like marble.

Works of art that required patience and determination, and which are still in use, and honored by the present day parishioners.

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

In the photo, I stand in the shadows.

Waiting. Watching. Questioning.

Listening to the Silence.

Practicing patience.

Filed Under: Desert Wisdom Tagged With: Arizona, desert, desert wisdom, desert wisdom card, mission church, patience

My Desert Office

August 24, 2014 by Bo Mackison 1 Comment

“When I look in the mirror, I see a woman with secrets. When we don’t listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And we abandon our souls because we are afraid if we don’t, others will abandon us.” ~ Terry Tempest Williams

When I am in Arizona, I often go to the desert to work. I follow my intuition and my need to settle into a place of sunshine, heat and silence, spaciousness and solitude. It’s not the place most people would choose as prime office space, but it suits me fine.

When I connect with nature, I experience a boost in my mood. My imagination switches to on, and I find my work projects more inviting. Perhaps it is simply a change in scenery. Some women I know find a quiet niche in their local library, head to a busy coffee shop to write with companions, set up a sewing table in the midst of their garden, or paint in a park.

But me? I head to the desert. I bring my backpack filled with writing materials and my camera, and settle in one of the covered shelters scattered throughout Saguaro National Park. These stone and “cactus-wood” shelters were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and still provide a shady place for me to set up my temporary desert-scape office.

If you are not finding the time for creativity, you are not finding the time for one of your main reasons on earth…to fully allow the creative force of your divinity to connect and move through you. ~ Jill Badonsky

The change of pace triggers the little child in me who says, “Yippee! I don’t have to work inside today!” Suddenly any resistance I may have brought along decreases and I’m more motivated to look at my scribbled to-do list–a very casual document–and choose an item that catches my attention.

I also give myself permission to begin by working in very small increments, especially if I’m considering a project I find overwhelming, technical or difficult.

“Just begin,” I remind myself. “Start working for just ten minutes.”

After ten minutes, I have already given myself permission to stop, although ninety percent of the time once I’ve gotten started I keep right on working productively. I have broken through the “get started” barrier, broken through the procrastination, the overwhelm – and I get my work done.

But if after ten minutes, I’m still looking at a blank piece of paper, or kicking my toe into the desert dust to watch it poof, or I’m distracted by the cactus wrens building a nest in the rafters, I change tactics.

Usually, when the distractions of daily life deplete our energy, the first thing we eliminate is the thing we need the most: quiet, reflective time. Time to dream, time to contemplate what’s working and what’s not, so that we can make changes for the better. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

I grab a tiny notebook and pencil and my camera, and I hike through the Sonoran Desert. I study the giant saguaro, I watch the tiny lizards scuttling from the shade of a boulder to the skirt of a low-growing acacia shrub, I stop and listen to the coyotes sing as they gather in the arroyo when the shadows lengthen.

If I need more time, more grounding, I’ll walk in the canyon deeper into the wilderness, and head away the few people who also walk the desert in the late afternoon. I might sit on a rock outcropping, and settle my feet upon the earth. If I’m taking photographs for a project, I take time to contemplate my surroundings. Study the muted colors, the desert is awash in greens and yellows. The ocotillo’s bare branches swaying in a slight breeze, ten foot long sticks that will sprout green leaves after a rainfall. Birds chatter and swoop; ground squirrels chase each other.

The material of the artist lies not within himself nor in the fabrications of his imagination, but in the world around him . . . The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. ~ Paul Strand

As I pay attention to my desert surroundings, ideas pop into my head, often answers to confounding questions that I’ve puzzled over for hours. I pull out my paper and pencil to capture the thoughts immediately. Thoughts like these are as fleeting as the dream you remember upon awakening, but forget before your feet hit the floor.

I always write breakthrough ideas down, no matter how certain I am I will remember them.

Before I leave my desert office, I add a short note in my journal. This is my “ta-dah” list, a list that is the sequel to my “to-do” list. On this second list, I write down the highlights of my day.

Here is a rather typical ta-dah list from a desert office visit this past spring:

saw a bright red cardinal and it made my smile
wrote 200 words on the ‘courage’ essay
took some fun photos of three lizards in the shadow of a saguaro
walked the canyon trail and listened to the coyotes sing, wrote some poetry as I stood there listening
felt grounded and grateful

Filed Under: Desert Wisdom, Photography Tagged With: Arizona, desert, getting work done, Saguaro National Park, working in the desert

A Sonoran Desert Gift – Saguaro Cactus in Bloom

May 10, 2014 by Bo Mackison 3 Comments

A saguaro forest is awe-inspiring any time of the year.

But it is even more spectacular during May and June when many saguaros are topped with highly decorative, three-inch wide yellow-centered, white blossoms.

The flowers open at night.

They are highly fragrant, like overripe fruit, and attract the lesser long-nosed bat, a nocturnal creature and its most prolific pollinator. Flowers stay in full bloom throughout the next morning, then they quickly shrivel into a crispy brown shell.

Many saguaro, especially the older ones, have hundreds of flowers. Only a few flowers bloom in a single day, yet the saguaro flowering season lasts eight to ten weeks.

Bats are ideal pollinators.

Since the flowers are positioned high in the air, they are easily accessible to the swooping bats plus the blossoms are extremely durable – they look like they are dipped in wax! – and are able to withstand the bat’s weight.

The flowers produce some nectar after sunrise, and so also attract bees and doves during the day, but to a lesser degree.

A few flowers bloom at eye level, especially on cacti whose arms are drooping towards the ground.

It takes some persistent searching – and luck – to find a blossom that can be photographed up close and personal. Most of the flowers are high atop the cacti, twenty to forty feet in the air!

The blossoms that are pollinated develop into deep red, fleshy fruits in late June.

Not only do the fruits feed the bird and animal populations of the desert, they are also a traditional food of the Tohono O’odham. These people once harvested the fruits using long poles fashioned from cactus ribs. The tradition still persists, though on a limited basis.

Filed Under: Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: cacti, desert, desert flowers, flowers, life cycle of saguaro cactus, saguaro blossoms, saguaro cactus, saguaro pollination, Sonoran Desert, white desert flowers

The Feel of the Path – A Prayer of Desert Petition

May 2, 2014 by Bo Mackison 8 Comments

I walk and walk and walk.
Through scrub land and foothills, through the desert, into the arroyo, up into the high canyons
where palo verde accent the desert green with yellow blossoms

Slowly. In an attempt to memorize each step,
consider the existence of each lizard that skitters under rocks at my approach,
study the tall saguaro, the one that speaks to me in our silent language.

There are the Texas Canyon boulders that balance with delicate precision,
boulders upon boulders, the giants’ cairns.

There are the trees dead in the grasslands, choked dry

There is the agave, its flowers long ago spent, its seed heads crispy brown,
standing tall in the ruts of an abandoned road.

There is my reawakened respect for the western rattler,
most plentiful and most dangerous of Arizona snakes.

I watched it rise three feet and rattle like dried chimes,
then zip into the thick grasses of the arroyo.
Left me standing at the arroyo’s edge, breathless,
looking at the emptiness where it had flashed me warning.

There is wonder at my daily sightings of a mama and papa quail,
their brood of chicks darting like scattered billiards balls,
each pecking for seeds in the rocky soil.

On hot afternoons the adults settle upon the earth like ancient ocean puffer balls,
and keep watch over their babies tucked under a staghorn cholla, an unlikely nesting hideout.

There are only memories of the gray dove perched upon the adobe wall
and the Coopers hawk’s swoop from behind.
Memories of the clutch of talons,
the dove’s disappearance amidst an explosion of feathers.

I gathered feathers from the tiled porch for a week
while pondering the order, and disorder, of nature.

This is a rough land, yet it fits my temperament.

Its wildness is a comfort,
its unexpected lushness a gift,
its unrelenting demands a lesson in awareness,
its solitude a rarity,
its brilliant sun-drenched land a tonic,
its dark skies a reminder of the need for rest.

How old the land upon which I walk,
ancient volcanic rock cold upon the hot desert earth.
And fossils of trilobites and shark teeth document this land’s history, how amazing the story.

Billions of years of tiny changes.

And so I walk and walk, and walk more. Relentless.
And commit to memory what I see,
Reminders that though I leave, I will return.

Filed Under: Desert Wisdom, Writing Practices Tagged With: Arizona, desert, lost and found, nature, poetry, saying good bye, Sonoran Desert, Travel, walking blessing

Following One’s Creative Heart – And Announcing the Desert Wisdom Cards, Series II

April 30, 2014 by Bo Mackison 6 Comments

I am so excited to announce the completion of the Second Series of the Desert Wisdom Cards!

After months of photographing the Sonoran Desert, choosing themes and cards that “spoke to me”, and then creating a new deck of cards and a new portfolio — the Desert Wisdom Cards – Series II are done.

The second series of desert cards were not actually a part of my “creative plan.”

Originally, I planned to create a set of nature based cards that included four themes – desert, shore, prairie, and mountain – plus a set of source cards, based loosely on the template of a tarot deck. I completed the Desert Cards last October, and began the prairie cards. But the spark wasn’t there. I had photographs, I had the themes and concepts, but there was no magic in the work.

I was stunned, for a long while. I love the prairie almost as much as I love the desert. In fact, it was my first love. I persisted for months, but never was able to muster the same sort of enthusiasm and magic that I felt when I would work on desert-themed projects.

And so I stored my nature set ideas in a box for future consideration, and I went back to my desert and her inspiration.

Voila! The magic was immediately back!

What are Desert Wisdom Cards?

The Desert Wisdom Cards – Series II are a set of 14 hand-made cards used for reflection and inspiration. Each card has a photograph of the beautiful Sonoran Desert and a single word for contemplation, reflection, or as a prompt for journal writing.

The card set is only available in a hand crafted, limited edition of 26, numbered and signed.

How were the Desert Wisdom Cards first created?

I created the set of Desert Wisdom Cards to use during my morning practice, focusing on the photograph for inspiration and reflection. I also use the cards as prompts for journal writing, and as a springboard for art and nature projects.

While contemplating my desert photographs during my morning meditation and journal practice, I discovered that the process not only allowed me to use my art for healing, but also provided me with a system that promoted problem solving and goal setting.

The cards became a framework to consider choices, make plans, and instigate changes in life — while providing structure for an in-depth creative practice.

To read the story of how I first created Desert Wisdom Cards, see my blog post, “Beyond — The World.

Little did I know when I began creating contemplative photo cards, it would become a catalyst to create the Desert Wisdom Cards and help me discover the great “Beyond”. And that “Beyond” became a new way of whole-hearted living, based on nature and creativity, combined with my photography.

A new portfolio complements the cards.

This set of cards comes in a completely restyled, hand decorated folded portfolio. Each portfolio is individually decorated with ink, acrylics and metallic paint. Designed in the color palette of the desert, each folder is unique and a mini-work of art in itself.

NEW! A special guide is now included in the set.

This four page pamphlet offers suggestions for using the cards, including activities for body, mind and spirit. Also included in the booklet is information on the evolution of the cards and additional resources for nature and art related activities.

And a special thanks to James Wells who graciously shared his method of delving deeply into tarot cards using multiple activities for body, mind and spirit. This was a great source when I was adapting activities for Desert Wisdom Card guide book.

Set Specifications:

The cards are 7.5 inches by 4.5 inches. Each card includes one of my color photographs of the Sonoran Desert and a single word for reflection.

Each card is printed on a cylinder letterpress, the type set by hand and then printed using a vintage (1940s) Vandercook No.3 Letterpress.

This set of cards comes in a hand crafted, folded portfolio. Each portfolio is individually decorated with ink, acrylics and metallic paint. Designed in the color palette of the desert, each folder is unique and a mini-work of art in itself.

The Desert Wisdom Card set includes 14 cards, storage portfolio, and a four page pamphlet with suggestions for using the cards. The cards will also fit in the four flap portfolio that comes with the original set, the Desert Wisdom Cards – Series I.

How to use the set of Desert Wisdom Cards:

They are perfect to use as a mini-set for meditation, inspiration and contemplation. A few useful suggestions include:

Choose a daily card as a focus card during meditation.
Choose a card as a journal or art prompt.
Enrich your spiritual practice through contemplation of the desert and nature.
Inspire and nurture your creative muse.

Of course, these are only suggestions. If you are guided in a different way to use the cards, by all means follow your heart.

How to Purchase a Set of Desert Wisdom Cards?

The Desert Wisdom Cards – Set II are now available in my Etsy shop.

$45.00 for the portfolio, set of 14 cards, and the guide book.

They also make a perfect complement to the original set of Desert Wisdom Cards.

Both sets of cards were also planned to combine beautifully. Although the portfolios are different in look, the card template is the same. When combining the two sets, there are 38 cards in the deck. This offers combinations and possibilities for more complex uses and spreads.

And finally, a thank you!

I thank so many of you, my supporters and friends, and especially Sherpa and my family in the Midwest, for your love and support as these cards evolved and were created.

Living and creating in the Sonoran Desert feeds and strengthens my body, mind and spirit.

It is truly a gift for me to live and work here, yet I understand that it is a sacrifice for many of my love ones. For this opportunity and for your understanding, I am truly grateful.

Filed Under: Book Arts, Desert Wisdom Tagged With: Arizona, book arts, creative process, desert, Desert Wisdom Cards, Desert Wisdom Cards - Series II, meditation cards, Sonoran Desert