Coming to My Senses

Sometimes sitting still makes my mind louder.

A few weeks ago, I packed up my husband, dog, and a camera and drove to the Northeast Kingdom for a few days. The goal was to have some quiet time before two jam-packed work weeks headed my way. To note, this was after several crazy (and I mean crazy) weeks behind me.

I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to shut down. For me, silence isn't empty. Instead, it can feel like a review session.

Something somewhat phenomenal happened on that trip. My famously ruminating brain took a breather, quicker than I imagined it could. It wasn't intentional. I didn't stop and meditate. In fact, I am terrible, terrible, terrible at meditating. And I didn't work through yoga poses in a field. Honestly, I can barely touch my toes.

But I am apparently quite good at engaging my senses. With a camera in hand, that turns into therapy. This is what my camera did to my attention over those few days.

Queen Anne's lace, black-eyed Susans, fleabane. No single subject.

Then one flower. Close enough to see pollen on the disc. The frame shrank, and so did the noise.

By the second morning I was photographing bands of light on rippled water. Instead of reviewing a to-do list, I was deciding where the reeds sat in the frame.

Then, one bloom on black water. Nothing else. Focus.

Of course, the scientist in me couldn't help but get curious about why unplugging seemed easier on this trip. Turns out, there is research behind this. Meditation does not suit everyone. Actually, for ruminators like me, sitting quietly can sometimes make the loop worse.

What works instead is absorption: attention held by something outside yourself. For some, it is music. Others, it may be a walk through an art gallery or enjoying bright murals on a city street.

For me, it was my natural surroundings. And Vermont's Northeast Kingdom offered it in abundance. Honestly, some of the flowers appeared to be posing, waiting for (well-deserved) attention.

The weeks since we returned have been full. I made it through opening week at the college, and now the campus is coming back to life. But it has been days (weeks, honestly) of being on for other people; literally until 5:45pm the Friday before Labor Day Weekend.

I was quite nervous that I wouldn't be able to find a way to rest when the weekend arrived. But at least right now, the practice holds at home, too.

I don't need a lake or meadow in the Northeast Kingdom. I just need my senses engaged. Sometimes that is the light in the field behind the house. Sometimes it is standing in front of a piece of art hanging on my walls.

And, in five minutes, I will be focusing on the blueberry pie in the oven, paying attention to nothing but the smell.

Enjoy what is around you, friends.

A little ps, in case it isn't clear....

I know we live in a weird world, one where people can generate images and all sorts of craziness at a rapid clip. My photographs are my own. Just like it says on the Fieldwork site - "Site landscape and nature photography by Iris Fischer-McMorrow". The subjects in these images are exactly as I found them. Nature made them, as well as the light around them. I just managed to capture the moment.