Dawn and dusk are precious times of the day. They not only gift us with prime light for photography, they also offer a beautiful and welcome time of silence. As we move from darkness to light and light to darkness these moments are also rich for meditation. Since most of the world is busying itself with morning and evening life tasks you usually have some otherwise peopled places in nature to yourself.
Lines left in sand by receding tide – MacKerricher State Park.
As much as humans need communal experiences and sacred rituals, we also need solitude for introspection. While engaged with the landscape intimacies set before us we often find an opening to the landscapes of our soul and heart.
Fields of wildflowers or a glassy pond reflecting a tree lined shore are scenes that help us focus on calmness and gentleness. Desert dunes and wastelands emulate inner struggles. Mountain peaks are metaphoric markers for high aspirations and the presence of the divine.
Lines often act as a guide for discerning direction, vision and ventures. As I continue in my vocation to transform sole leadership models to partnership communal processes, I find inspiration in the lines etched in sand, sky and waters.
The receding tide
creates her own icons.
Lines of inspiration etched
in sand, in sky, and path
entice my imagination
to the edge of Great Mystery.
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Lasting or momentary lines
dance new images
in heart and soul,
birthing creation’s joy,
as I image my dreams to life.
Exploding into expression,
nature’s lines lift me
to revelations of her soul.
Silent reflection draws
new lines from old.
©Stacy Boorn, 2014
Horizontal lines project the idea of stability or a changeless concept in a changing world, like the ocean’s horizon that stretches beyond our peripheral vision. Vertical lines give you a sense of peace and groundedness. Often you will see this in rock formations, skeletons of trees and edges of buildings.
Diagonal lines give you a sense of motion, letting you know something is taking place. And they convey great dynamic feelings. Irregular and curved lines add further emotions such as tension, bending and unfolding choices.
Consciously or unconsciously, photographers employ lines to communicate all kinds of emotions as well as using them to lead the viewer from one part of an image to the other. I find that seeing and creating images with lines also works as a meditation – leading one in a new direction or pointing out a new vision. But sometimes the simple line itself is the entire subject of an image.
It is said that lines which point outside the image take you there. Usually artists avoid this kind of line. We want you to stay with our subject. But sometimes we must be directed outside of what is before us. May your silent reflections, via these images, help you draw new lines from old.
(Photos: Beach Sand, Ma-le’L Dunes – Eureka, Morning Light on Stow Lake Dock – Golden Gate Park, and Birds and Twigs Silhouetted – MacKerricher State Park at Dusk)