Juxtaposition

I wrote in November about shooting and seeing — our tendency in the age of smart phones to capture and then send along images without first genuinely apprehending:  frame, click, post … and on to the next.

This is not “capture” at all but escape of a worrisome, corrosive sort,   a failure of presence that reflects an endemic modern spiritual malaise:   the absence of attention and, with it, the ability to fully inhabit and appreciate our lives and the world in which they are lived.

This morning, though, I was graced by a corollary truth: the capacity of cameras to enhance our vision and attentiveness, and hence,  our sense of wonder.

It started with a morning chore: re-filling the waterer in the hens’ run.  I didn’t know that the mercury had dipped below freezing last night until I unscrewed the base, and was greeted by delicate stalagmites extending from the walls of the container. (Click on any image to see a larger version.)

And then, there was the frosted deck rail. I got to wondering what else was out there, waiting — but not forever — on my vision,  what my camera could help me see before the moment disappeared.

I focused on images that reflect a poignant and yet promising aspect of spring: new life, juxtaposed against the old.

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Tags: appreciation, attention, Buddhism, cameras, gratitude, mindfulness, nature, photography, presence, spring, winter