Living this moment through the eyes of a camera

Children playing at the ocean — The sister held her brother’s hand as the waves rolled in.

Have you ever come upon something unexpected and stopped what you were doing to look and listen and feel? Maybe it was a child playing in the water on a windy day or the first tulip of spring. Maybe it was the bent form of an old man as he walked up a hill.

Maybe it was your first taste of a freshly picked raspberry or the sight of a bird’s nest with a baby robin peering over the edge.

For that moment you were fully there, your mind still and your eyes open. For that moment you were experiencing life in the NOW.

Every aspect of what you were seeing, smelling and maybe tasting was clear.

AND THEN YOUR MIND STARTING CHATTERING AGAIN and the moment of fully living became crowded with thoughts of things not even there in front of you.

SAMSUNG — I watched the sunset through the eyes of my cell phone camera.

I cherish those moments when my mind is still and my being is fully engaged in the NOW.

I want more of them and less of the mind’s madeup drama.

Sometimes though, the mind is noisy and the connection with the world I am truly in seems blocked by those darn thoughts.

A few years ago I discovered that viewing the world through a camera lens not only produced pictures but also gave me a way back to the clarity and delight of the present moment.

Through the camera I could focus on what was there right in front of me, not on what my mind was trying to create about past or future.

I could see a flower opening and the amazing details of each petal and stamen.

Bird refuge near klamath Falls Oregon — I stopped and took photo after photo of the birds rising in the wind from the wetlands near Kalmath Falls Oregon.

I could see the wind under the wings of birds on their way south in autumn.

I could see details and colors I often missed.

Shaun and Ruby at the ocean — I explored the ocean with my granddaughter Ruby…. and a heavier and heavier camera bag.

A while back I bought a newer camera, several lens and headed out day after day to see the world. I was becoming a camera junkie!

More often now I leave the fancier equipment at home. The growing camera bag was getting heavy for everyday use. With the advent of improved cell phone cameras I found I could take pictures everyday everywhere. AND I DO.

I intentionally take pictures so I can see the world and remember to be in the world in the now.

One day I wandered in my garden with camera in hand and saw this . . .