Wish I Had Said That

"I learned long ago not to be intimidated by an absence of difficulty"
- John Gill

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."-Frederick Douglass

"If my thought dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine"-Bob Dylan

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Self-Analyzation Arranged with Complex Paragraph Structure

I am coveting the mindset of the cool, calm and collected human animal. The Zen master within me is restless and is taking control. Working on the side of a cliff tearing it apart and then encasing it in metal. What a interesting way to get after the cash.  This cash that is required to fuel any existence in the modern-world.  I feel lost at times, we are not what we do for work.  Instead I believe that we are what we do for pleasure and health.  If those choices are peaceful, then the world benefits.  If not, then more hate, anger, and pain is put forth towards all life-forms.

I nourish my inner-peace with taking work in a foreign environment (i.e. the deep south), working with plenty of individuals with no comprehension of the world that I have chosen to live in, and being away from the things I love.  Practicing patience with those who would scoff at my life, moving forward and smiling and taking the time to learn another's perspective.  This causes deeper reflection for me.  Live has slowly pushed and pulled me along many paths.  I have found love a few times, felt absolutely lost just as often, and plenty of times just in-between.  My early twenties were a time of change and formation of the actual self.  At times nothing seemed worth it, yet I still long for the love of those days.  I was mistreated and I mistreated as well.  I ended up having to run-away for the sake of sanity.  Our brains take up to 30 years to fully mature. From the start a good life has always been there.  Loving family, friends, and safety were always present.  Others are not so lucky, even in this privileged state of affairs occurring in the modern Euro-American dominated paradigm.

Why do we do the things we do and for what? We all want to compare our situation to everyone else's. If you tell me how hot it is where you live, I will come back with the proper retort of how hot I have seen it. And so on. I almost crushed my finger off a few months ago, and now if I bother to tell anyone about it they will most likely reply with their own story of personal injury. Are we listening to each other? Or just waiting to flap our lips? Quietness is so surreal and special. It seems to be losing the battle in our little world and time-space. I am practicing listening and hearing people when they talk to me. Not arranging my next story or witty comeback. As the songs says: "You start a conversation you can't even finish it. You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything. When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?"- Talking Heads, Psycho Killer.  I remember the stories that are told to me.


You are still reading this.  Why?  Do you not need to be bombarded by some other data source?  I have not bragged about what I have been doing, instead I am contemplating the human condition.  It seems our culture could use a little more of that.  Stop this living for a future that is not guaranteed, choose to live for the present and the future will be beautiful if you are acting in a truly moral and ethical way.  Which way?  I do not know.  You and your ego can pick out of the magician's top-hat.  Everybody seems to have that one figured out for themselves and have convinced themselves that they are doing right by some mythical belief system.  Perhaps instead it would be wiser to practice the preaching.  Lay down the gavel of judgement and pick-up some true compassion.  There are whole tomes with millions of believers that are mis-quoted daily for the purpose of elevating the self.  Chase money if that is what is important, if that brings you happiness, security, and all that shit.  Perhaps our careers, credit reports, diplomas and consumeristic objects define us.  If so chase that race.

I will be busy chasing bliss.



Monday, June 18, 2012

Lets Get Known

Ski Season 2012 has come to a close for me.  Made it through a superbly fickle winter season and a surprisingly good spring season.  Plenty of poor light, poor snow, and then sometimes just good skiing days limited the number of quality photos that I was able to capture.  Plus, what fun is going skiing if you are stopping and freezing your hands to take photos all the time?  I love to ski.  If i can shoot a few decent photos out of all it, then so be it.

The following represent the best I was able to capture with an out-dated, but light, Nikon D60 with 18-55mm lens.  Limited editing was performed on the majority of photos and they are all relatively un-posed.  You may notice a lack of hucking, jibbing, helicopters, snow-machines, lift-accessed skiing, and the like.  There is enough of that already.  Its not about models, gear, clothing, and trying to get known.  This is all about getting out in the wilds, finding beautiful un-tracked lines and skiing them with good friends.

May your summer be fantastic and short, let the fall bring a stable early-season snowpack, and lets have a stellar 2013 ski season.


 
Thank You,

Andrew Whitmore


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