Friday, September 25, 2009

What we notice

A daily poem from Panhala is delivered to my inbox every day. Recently this was the daily poem

life is a garden,
not a road

we enter and exit
through the same gate

wandering,
where we go matters less
than what we notice.

The poem is attributed to Bokonon from "The Lost Book".

As a photographer noticing things has become a practice that I strive to incorporate in everything I do and so this poem struck a cord with me.

And today, as I slowly walked my labyrinth, which is another of my daily practices, I noticed that I entered and exited the labyrinth through the same entrance. I had always thought of the labyrinth as a metaphor for the journey of life and this poem made me see this more clearly. Life is made up of cycles and being present to notice my life is more important than rushing through it - as Henry Canby says "Live deep instead of fast". But how to get all those exciting creative projects done before my time is up? I wish I knew how to balance these two aspects of my life - I want them both!

Recently there was an article on Labyrinths in Charlotte Woman magazine's August edition. There is an interview with me on pages 24 and 25.


1 comment:

Joanne Huffman said...

Catherine, it's been a very long time since I walked a labyrinth and I think it may be time to find one. I enjoyed reading the article (thanks for providing the link). I think there may be something very wise about taking time to find time.