Stillness

Stillness is a theme in my life, if not THE theme. It is what drove me to photography, it is what drove me to creating. Stillness is that space in between thoughts where there is peace and observation. It is when you become absorbed by what you see or what you are doing. You loose your sense of time, space and even identity for a moment and you just ARE. If you, like me, are prone to worrying, stillness is the saviour. It is what lies underneath the mind's thinking and analysing. It is what is pure and peaceful and it is from this space that I create and in my case it is also this that photographing leads to. For you it might be flower arranging, painting, taking a walk....for me it is taking pictures. Pausing long enough to become the observer rather than the thinker and almost becoming one with what I see...If my mind can't stop thinking, I have a really hard time taking decent pictures. It usually happens when I start saying to myself that I really have to take a good picture or else the opportunity will be gone forever. Then of course I can't take a decent picture, but when that space between thoughts arises, when I see something that fills me with a sense of wonder, that is when stillness takes over and I can create from that source alone...without me wanting to control the situation.