Focusing on Nature with Julie Bowman
I first want to thank Eremos for inviting members of the community to talk about and share spiritual practices that sustain us during these times. What a great idea.
My name is Julie Bowman, and I’m here to talk with you about my practice of contemplative photography. Now that’s kind of a big term for a very simple practice. For me when I start to feel disconnected, when I’m too much in my head and not as much in my heart. The best thing I can do is take myself outdoors. And I found that if I take my camera or my smartphone with me, I can really focus on the natural beauty and appreciate the gifts that we get all year round.
Now we’ve got wildflower season coming up and there will be stunningly glorious beauty. But even at the end of winter, there is definitely beauty to be found, and I’m going to share just a couple of photographs with you that I took the last couple of days.
So this leaf is one that I found just out in the front yard, and as I was looking, I was so captivated by all the little veins and lines and just the the beauty of that.
Then I found a live leaf in a park nearby – a poison ivy, so I did not touch it. But I just love this pop of color against the earthy stone.
For me, I like to get close. Just let something draw me completely into it. This little bit of moss and lichen on a twig just felt like a whole universe, like a little fairyland.
And driving around yesterday, we had to stop the car, so I could just admire these beautiful grasses blowing in the field. I got totally drawn into them and just captivated by the softness and the movement.
And when I turned around to go back to the car, it’s like, Oh, the sky. Don’t forget to look up.
There’s so much to be taken in when you’re out with your camera. And for me, it really does – I’m not focusing on making a beautiful image, although that’s often the end result. I’m really focusing on nature and beauty and the gifts that we get every day if we really slow down and we look closely.
So I invite you to grab your smartphone and head outside and have a wonderful time.
Description (Make Sure to Note: “Originally recorded in early 2022.”)
Originally created when the effects of the pandemic continued into its third year (early 2022), these gems are worth sharing again. Pointing towards simple contemplative practices that anyone can engage with, these short videos offered by the Eremos community can help you remember to “return to center*” whenever you find yourself stressed about the state of the world and our future.
As a contemplative community, Eremos is blessed to have access to wise souls with spiritual practices to help them come back to center* when the anxieties, fears, and tribulations of these times threaten to overwhelm them. May you feel the support of our contemplative community without walls as you view each offering.
*We describe ‘center’ as being that space within (often thought of as our high heart) where we sense, feel, or imagine we’re most in touch with God or the Divine.
