weareallpilgrims

We live in an age of “efficiency” and “multi-tasking”. It seems it is all about how much we can get done or accomplished within a given time period. I sure felt the unrelenting pressure of way more work than I could ever accomplish, when I was working at Boeing. In my rush to accomplish as much as I could, it was very difficult to slow down and to be present to the moment.

One of the gifts of the Camino is it slows you down. The multi-tasking and urgency of getting things accomplished as efficiently as possible fades to the background. You find that your days are greatly simplified. It is as if time has slowed down and you can breath and be more present to the moment. You have time to absorb the beauty all around you.

Maybe that is why I am actually grateful, in some strange way, for this “Coronavirus slow down”. Like so many of us, we have been forced by the pandemic to limit so many of the activities we loved to do, like travel and spending time with family and friends. This “pandemic slow down” has been an awakening to how important it is to be fully present and awake to the moment.

To be awakened and aware without distraction is a beautiful thing.

“An awakening is necessary to reconnect us to our origins and one another.”
Barbara Holmes

I hope I can remember and live this more fully everyday, even after the “pandemic slow down” is over.

May Blessings abound,

John

Photograph of the Month

A Home In The Trees

The bird’s nest was photographed on a hike in Discovery Park in Seattle this past week. Here is some a short description on how I created this final image.

The first step in the process is a good capture of this nest in the tree. Then I focus on creating a very sharply detailed and contrasting image. The background was I created from an image of some old gnarly dried fungi. I thought it was a perfect compliment to the prickly nest look.