Sunflowers at Sunset ©2013 Bo Mackison
Adrift in a wave of sunflowers,
adrift in a wave of humanity –
we are all one.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Her exhibit, Garden Party – A Celebration of Botanical Photography, is at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library Gallery in Madison, Wisconsin and runs through September 5, 2013.
Sunflower © 2103 Bo Mackison
“Could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; and you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
If you ever have a chance to see a giant sunflower, up close and personal, you will notice that the sunflower seeds always form in a spiral pattern. Each successive seed placement approximated the golden angle, (137.5˚) and so fully covers the space.
What a wonder-evoking sight. We know nature is filled with patterns and sequences, but often they remain hidden from our unseeing eyes. The sunflower, another natural things like pine cones, the leaves on a stem or the branching of a tree, the fronds on a fern, even the tippets covering a pineapple, follow this mathematical formula.
The beauty of the pattern, in part, is a result of the precise play of the positioning of each concentric layer, and the creation of an eye-pleasing spiral. Gifts of wonderment!
“This very moment of your life, if you experience it fully, will show you astonishing wonders and exquisite delights.” ~ Martha Beck
The WONDER card offers activities for contemplation, art, and writing and a call to action:
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is creating a set of Prairie Wisdom Cards, second in a series of cards based on natural habitats, and used for exploration and self-discovery.
Sunflower Field ©2013 Bo Mackison
“Light-enchanted sunflower, thou
Who gazest ever true and tender
On the sun’s revolving splendour.”
~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca
A sunflower field in the shadows of an overcast sky, and still the sunflowers follow the arc of the light, turning their heads towards the brightest spot in the sky. No matter how dim the light, the sunflowers are guided by the light. By the life-giving qualities of the light.
They stand, side by side, on a hillside in the Wisconsin countryside. I stand next to the field the flowers, observing their minute, geometric details, and they stand two feet taller than me.
They stand, overlooking a neighboring farm, overlooking the city of Madison, overlooking Lake Mendota. On a clear day, the sunflowers overlook the State Capitol and the current political happenings. And they follow the light, follow the sun.
Stand together, and focus on the light.
A good lesson for all of us.
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Bo Mackison is artist, photographer, book-maker, collector of stories, naturalist, poet, curator and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She believes nature offers huge opportunities in learning, and life offers a huge opportunity for growth.
Vintage Dahlia © 2013 Bo Mackison
“But when does something’s destiny finally come to fruition? Is the plant complete when it flowers? When it goes to seed? When the seeds sprout? When everything turns into compost?” ~ Leonard Koren, in Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers
It’s been a rough few weeks. Really rough. A double loss in our little family. A long time friend’s liver cancer diagnosis. A co-worker’s college aged child killed in a motorcycle accident. Grief is not an easy emotion at any time, and I am working to cope with grief upon grief upon grief, while discovering the life skills I thought would be helpful are woefully inadequate.
I’ve been asking a million “Why?” questions. And getting no satisfactory answers.
Yes, I know life is cyclical and includes — on various levels — experiences of birthing, living, and dying. And during this time of grief, I tend to ask the question “Why?” An unanswerable question, in most situations like these, but it was becoming an unhelpful mantra for me.
I didn’t realize how pervasive “Why?” questioning was throughout the many parts of my life, however, until a wise mentor kindly brought it to my attention. To fully explore her comment, I began to journal. And I came up with a long list of questions:
My mentor suggested that I need not answer those persistent whys, that they are a both a distraction and an attachment to outcome that does not serve me in my work.
She suggested I read a small book, The Seven Paths by Christine Baldwin, one she has found of great help in its simplicity, and contemplate several of the paths — “follow your purpose while dealing with surprises,” and “ask for what you need while offering what you have.” And finally, “move gently upon the earth.”
The advice is simple, solid, and had a feel of acceptance, an uplifting quality. It offers a message to quiet the continuous chatter of “why” and substitute the more down to earth and less ego-driven mantra — “Do your work and release it into the world.”
I took these wise words one step further, and applied them to my current life situation. The above quote by Leonard Koren in his book on wabi-sabi gave me a container for my thoughts.
Our destiny, each of our destinies, is individual. We are alone on our journey, yet we walk with companions.
We may set fruit, flower, sprout seeds, or turn to compost. No need to ask “why?” for it is all good, it is all necessary.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Her exhibit, Garden Party – A Celebration of Botanical Photography, is at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library Gallery in Madison, Wisconsin and runs through September 5, 2013.
Maiden, Mother, Crone – Entrance to the Labyrinth © 2-13 Bo Mackison
I walk again, collect the sticks loosened
from the oaks by yesterday’s storms.
Gather leaves. The first, a shiny narrow leaf,
The second, full with smoothed points, with a leaflet attached to its stem,
The last, a yellowing leaf, splotched with black, its edges withering.
Maiden, mother, crone.
Rows and Rows © 2013 Bo Mackison
From the labyrinth, the rows and rows
of sisters’ stones rise on the nearby hill, precise like soldiers’ formations.
The dead, in their final resting places, each marked with a rock and a name.
Once they dedicated their lives in faith, to love and community. Hard work.
What kept their faith alive, those that remained in their vows?
What happened to the mute ones, the angry ones, the hysterical ones?
The unwanted fifth daughter, the child raped by a neighboring farmer,
the daughter who ran from home with the rag and bone man only to return carrying her shame?
What happened to the ones with startling visions,
those who followed a calling they understood only in their hearts,
those who sought a home, any home, as a safe haven?
Did this sacred community quiet the demons that screamed when the women were alone?
Hold their visions in reverence? Embrace them
in their desperation and their joys?
Accept them with their frailties and in their strengths.
I hear their voices as I walk along the grassy paths.
Friends with Magdalene © 2013 Bo Mackison
One stone draws me, holds my attention. There lies a polished rock on
Mary Magdalene’s stone. “Friends” it declares.
I could be a friend with the ancient one, His Mary Magdalene, I think,
though I know little of her life, only those I learned as a child,
stories of her cryptic life, the sainted penitential prostitute.
I wonder what I do not know.
What of her story was lost in history? Or re-purposed.
Closing the Gate © 2013 Bo Mackison
The church tower chimes twelve times, noon
I open the gate, walk out.
Shut it. Firmly. Shake it hard to test its latch. I am shaken, too.
Bury my grief, and theirs, but hold their stories dear.
I carry their stories as I walk the cracked road.
The birds sing in the ancient oaks.
An acorn falls.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Recently she has also been pondering labyrinths and journeys.
