In this edition of Pamela on Purchase, MyRye.com columnist Pamela Baur finds inspiration and tells us beauty is revealed when we see clearly.
“Life goes by in a blink, that is the one thing that the photographs point out to me everyday”. This was a thought Cathrine White, a local Rye photographer, shared during her talk at the Rye Reading Room last week. Cathrine spoke not only about her passions and perspectives of photography and life, she also shared how we can all capture the moments in our lives, as she so effortlessly does with her photographs, by being present, tapping into our passions, and listening to our truest inspirations and desires of our hearts.
The pictures she captures, most often in black and white, are of people in their daily lives. Cathrine reminds, these moments are constantly happening around us, the question is whether or not we are able to notice and appreciate them as they occur. What are they showing us? What do they want us to pay attention to? Can we allow them to speak to us as reflections of ourselves and what we love?
Stepping away from the morning’s talk, I was re-inspired to appreciate the still-frames of my own life, each moment which has led me to be where I am now. In doing so, I felt a sense of tremendous gratitude (even for the “not so great moments” which at first I would categorize as pictures I’d prefer to burn than appreciate and admire). I realize these experiences were snap shots of times when I was disconnected from my deepest passion or intention for myself and my life. I thought “it’s no wonder I would feel so lost when my heart was so far outside myself”. Sometimes we do take ourselves off track of what we really want, we say things we don’t mean and we act in ways that don’t align with our truest intentions. All of this caused by fear –fear to be great, fear to open up, fear of failure, the fear of saying out loud the deepest wishes in our hearts. All it takes to step away from fear and tap into our passions is realigning, *and some courage.
It’s with this thought that has me feel Cathrine’s latest picture she is sharing with us (now being displayed at the Rye Camera shop) carries such a powerful message. The picture displays the yoga pose of Pigeon– (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) a pose that opens the hips, which is a powerful energy center of the body where people tend to hold a lot of stress, tension, and emotion. This pose stretches out not only your hips, but can also help prevent lower back pain, knee or hamstring injuries and (bonus) is emotionally opening as well.
Yoga allows us to being to break through stiffness, rigidity, and discomfort that shows up in the body, and in our lives. Practicing allows us to realign our bodies, as well as our thoughts and feelings with our ideal self and expressions. The best part is, the more we are aligned with our truest self, the more clear the lense with which we capture our lives becomes. Beauty is revealed when we see clearly.
So no matter where you find yourself this week, whether it’s in Rye, New York or somewhere new and foreign like Texahoma, Oklahoma (I find my thoughts venturing there often) – I invite all of us to tap in, look inward (try yoga) and open to our truest desires and passions in life. There’s so much to admire so be sure to find the space and perspective to see your life clearly and just as you imagine it to be.
Special thanks to Cathrine White for her artistic inspiration and openness to share her photographs and message with us all!
