The Importance of Balancing Strength and Warmth

Golden Sunset, Yellowstone ©Lynne Buchanan

The other day my father was discussing John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut's book, Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities that Make Us Influential.  According to the authors, all social judgments hinge on two criteria: strength and warmth.  Strength connotes the ability to get things done through talent and force of will.  We tend to respect strong people, though we don't always like them if they don't seem empathetic enough.  Warmth suggests that people share our feelings, so we generally like warm people.  However, if people are warm and weak, we often disregard them as we think they might not be capable of protecting our interests.  When people are strong and warm we think they are willing and able to look out for us, so the author's contend we naturally look to them as leaders.

The more I thought about this, the more I realized how universally appealing this combination is and how desirable it is to achieve a balance of these qualities in both our lives and our artistic pursuits. In the photograph of the sunset in Yellowstone above, the clouds and sweeping lines of the landscape are very strong while the palette is warm.  Standing on the hillside above the valley, I felt pulled into the scene.  I did not resist, as I might have if the clouds had been threatening and the color of the landscape had been cooler.  The yellows and golds in the clouds and the earth made the scene very inviting and the graphic elements were so compelling that I stood there mesmerized until the sky grew dark.

There is not doubt that I am also attracted to people who seem alive and are pursuing their passions with vigor and intensity.  Yet, if they only seem to care about their own passions and being recognized for their accomplishments, I soon feel insignificant.  Likewise, when I feel strong, I feel more capable of accomplishing my dreams and facing life's challenges.  However, when I feel that this strength must all come from my own will power and ego, it doesn't last very long.  Soon something comes along that I can't handle alone.  I encounter difficult situations that I can't do anything about, because they are beyond my control.  This is the time when I must dig deep and find real inner strength, a strength that is connected to life force energy or spirit, whatever it is for you.  No matter how vivid the fears about my own failures or the downward spiral of the planet my mind conjures up, I must stay the course and keep believing in my ability to land or my feet and the earth's ability to bring itself back into balance.  

This brings to mind a quote by Patrick Overton, "When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen: there will be something solid for you to stand upon, or you will be taught how to fly."  The people who I am most inspired and moved by are the people who are able to remain strong even as their old worlds and sense of security are shattered.  If I am standing on the edge of the known waiting for someone to lead me where to go next, I would definitely prefer to follow someone who believes flying is possible and who would be kind enough to offer me a hand as we left the ground. I also realize that I can't just let someone else take me there.  I have to believe in flying myself and in lending a hand to someone else.  How special it would be to join hands with someone and be courageous enough to go to the edge of what we know is possible and step into the realm of our dreams and begin manifesting them.  Until such a time, I will keep trying to quiet my fears and have faith in my visions of a better, more balanced existence. 

On Being Grateful for Beauty

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  May you walk in beauty, peace, and happiness, as this Navajo woman whom Edward Curtis photographed surely did.  The bliss that is yours that comes from appreciating the boundless beauty in the world awaits you if you open yourself completely to the miracles of the universe.  As the Navajo prayer concludes, when you walk with awareness of beauty all around you, your words become beautiful.  As we all know from experience, your words create our reality...

Today I am thankful I still possess a childlike wonderment for life and all its glorious manifestations.  I am blessed not to be jaded and to still believe in infinite possibilities for growth and giving back.  My gratitude for my wonderful family and old friends and new is so boundless it cannot be expressed in words, except to say, "Thank you universe."

As you go about your day today, walk forward with naive courage, pure excitement, and gratitude that you are here to experience all life has to offer.  And if you happen to have a pink cowboy hat that matches your pink shirt and boots (or a white hat and shirt if you are a guy) like these adorable children I photographed with my iPhone striding to Lake Martin with their dad, you might lift everyone else's spirits too!

White Sands Sunset

Golden Sunset, White Sands ©Lynne Buchanan

This evening I witnessed the most amazing sunset in White Sands.  It was the first time I have been to this National Park and I was immediately captivated.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw the dunes from the highway.  It was already 4:30 when I arrived, so I went to the visitor center straight away to get some information about the various areas of the park.  I mentioned something about photography and the ranger said that photographers were usually the people who got lost in the park.  She warned me that they kept looking ahead and never back and soon forgot where they came from.  I went out into the dunes and swore that wouldn't happen to me.  A couple walked out a little ways behind me and followed me for awhile.  I kept looking back to see where they were and where we came from.  then the sky turned all these colors and all bets were off.  The shape of the clouds, the light, specific yuccas kept calling me and I kept following, whispering how I couldn't believe what was happening.  I kept saying there must be a God, or some higher power to make something this spectacular.  I kept thanking the universe, and then it started to get dark and I had only a vague idea where I came from.  I got up on a dune and saw the mountains that were behind me when I started and began walking that way.  Fortunately, I came across a local couple with two dogs after awhile and they pointed me in the right direction.  I thanked them profusely and told them how embarrassed I would have been if I had gotten lost after such a warning.  I can't wait to go back tomorrow morning.  I am already promising myself to keep better track of my bearings, but sometimes it is difficult!

The Hopis Love of Clouds

A couple of days ago, I visited with two Hopi silversmiths on the second Mesa, the owner of Sewukiwmas Arts and Crafts and the owner of the Rising Sun Gallery.  They both talked to me at great length about the natural symbols they use in their art and their way of life.   Their way of life depends on natural cycles since they practice dry farming in washes or along irrigated terrace walls, utilizing only precipitation from rain and snowmelt.  Clouds, rain, lightening, are all very important symbols, and they particularly love clouds, as they bring the rain that sustains all life.

Weaver, a truly gifted master silversmith and the owner of the Rising Sun Gallery, and I had a very deep discussion about living close to the land and the harm that man is causing the earth through pollution and not protecting water, the veins of life that keep us alive.  Weaver told me that he believes that recent tragic weather events are the earth's way of rebalancing itself to compensate for what we are doing to her.  He said in farming, they clear all the weeds underneath the crops so they can grow better and that he believes this is what the earth is doing on a larger scale when fires, torrential rains, and typhoons come.  His words seemed rather harsh to me when I thought about  all the lives that were lost in the Haiyan Typhoon. Yet,  I felt the truth to what he was saying.  Nature is not intentionally trying to hurt us.  She is just responding to all the harm man is causing the environment and trying to rebalance herself.  As Sandra Ingerman, Weaver, and many others who believe in the wisdom of native cultures repeatedly stress, if we can bring ourselves into better balance with nature, the earth will heal itself and we will heal too.

Living in balance and harmony and working with what nature provides to sustain ourselves does not devastate the environment in the way western farming and industrialization does.  When I looked on line to see if anyone was trying to apply dry farming principles, I learned the Hopi Tribe is assisting researchers at the Crown Canyon Archeological Center on ancient corn-growing techniques.  At the end of our conversation, Weaver said it was so unusual to hear someone speak the same way about nature coming from such a different culture.   When he handed me the bracelet I bought with bear claw marks and a turquoise stone and the tortoise pendant with the water symbol, he said that his prayer for me was a long life filled with courage to live in harmony with water.  I got chills when he said this, as my desire to inspire people to protect water grows stronger all the time.

After I left the Hopi Mesas and began driving to Holbrook, I saw the most amazing cloud looming over the desert that I have ever seen.  I pulled into a dirt road and made this image, so that I would always remember how divine clouds truly are and how important they are to our survival.

Divine Cloud as I was Leaving Hopi Land ©Lynne Buchanan

As I continued along the road feeling how the world smiles on us when we live in harmony and understand that we are just one small being in an interconnected web of life, the light broke through the clouds and lit up the earth, making her glow.  There was a little pullout off the road and I got out to make this photograph.

Glowing Desert Earth ©Lynne Buchanan

Then the sun set and the sky turned beautiful purples and pinks as the moon rose over two formations linked together as one, while still retaining their separateness.  I stopped the car again and was overcome with a sense of deep peace as I made this image with the help of mother nature, the greatest artist of all...

Desert Moon Rise ©Lynne Buchanan

From Mount Shasta to the Mojave and how the Desert Brought Me Back to Life

My friends in Grants Pass told me that I had to go to Mount Shasta on my drive through the backbone of California.  Thank goodness I did.  It gave me the strength and energy I needed to face millions of trucks and other cars.  Every time I drive I-5, I think this is how we are ruining the earth and as more people populate the planet more of the earth will become desecrated like this.  Fortunately, I communed with nature and medicine circles before I set out on the long drive and when I arrived in the Mojave Desert…

I decided to hire a guide in Mount Shasta and was fortuitously assigned Robin, the Mount Shasta Fun Guide.  She is an aspiring photographer and has published a book on the area.  (She is also a naturalist, historian, skier, search and rescue person, and has an ice ax and crampon school.  Prior to meeting Robin, I had always considered myself fairly tough. )  Robin took me to many wonderful vantage points of Mount Shasta, the Serenity Vortex, and Faery Falls.  We had a wonderful afternoon together, connecting with the special energy in the area and making photographs.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a day.

Faery Falls ©Lynne Buchanan

Mount Shasta with Medicine Circle ©Lynne Buchanan

Twin Peaks of Mount Shasta ©Lynne Buchanan

Mount Shasta in Divine Light ©Lynne Buchanan

Then I went to Redding to photograph the Sun Dial Bridge, which is quite amazing. 

Sun Dial Bridge ©Lynne Buchanan

Unfortunately, the hotel I stayed in was horrible, and after I woke up at 2:30 am and realized I could not sleep another moment there, I decided to hit the road and drove 13 hours to Nipton, California, an historic town and access point to the Mojave Desert, the least visited of all the National Parks.  The Hotel Nipton and the train depot were very picturesque in their own quirky way.  Turns out the train still runs and went right by my room, but I was so tired it did not bother me at all.  

Hotel Nipton ©Lynne Buchanan

Heading Nowhere in the Moonlight ©Lynne Buchanan

Nipton Train Depot at Sunset ©Lynne Buchanan

The next morning, I saw the most incredible sunrise.  The sky turned amazing colors all around me and the desert floor picked up these vibrant shades from the sky.  I kept going from one side of the road to the other, because the entire desert valley was glowing.  It took my breath away.  Then I drove on to see Joshua trees, volcanic cones, and sand dunes.  The Mojave Desert has incredible diversity and is teeming with life.  Some might call it a wasteland as it is in the middle of nowhere and the driest place on earth (I went through tons of water just standing there making photographs and could not believe how thirsty I got on the sand dunes), but I would rather be here than on the I-5 corridor in California any day.  I spent until noon drinking in the sights and let the desert resuscitate me, before heading on my way to the Grand Canyon, where I arrived just as the sun was setting.

Sunrise over the Mojave Desert ©Lynne Buchanan

Volcanic Cone Beds, Mojave Desert ©Lynne Buchanan