Simple Beauty
The Beauty of Simplicity
Of all the photos I’ve taken (or received as my Contemplative Photography mentor would say), I like the ones showing simplicity the best. A single leaf, a couple of flowers, a feather.
Something about simplicity appeals to the soul. Maybe that’s because our world has become so complicated. We do our writing on machines that none of us understand completely. We take photos with devices that had not been dreamed of 30 years ago. Even the engineers that build them don’t know all the ins and outs of how they work. We drive automobiles loaded with technology and some that even drive themselves.
Very few of us ever look inside our computers or open the hoods of our cars. If we do we stare in wonder at the mass of tubes and wires and belts and such. Most of us don’t have the knowledge or skills to diagnose and repair the machines we use every day.
The world has become too much for us.
Life too complicated.
As a result, the human spirit yearns for simplicity.
A kind word, a simple smile turns an otherwise dull day into one of joy filled with hope and possibilities.
My friend Rasheed Hooda knows about simplicity. He shared one of his simple photos in a story he wrote back in December. It gave me the idea for this story. Thanks Rasheed!
I like to sit and contemplate simple things. It brings peace to my mind.
Simple practices help too, like walking a labyrinth while thinking about nothing but the next step and the stones along the way.
Or taking a walk along a desert path and encountering words etched in stone:
- Gratitude
- Love
- Hope
- Compassion
- Generosity
- Laughter
- Patience
- Kindness
I like to gaze on simple things, or perhaps I should say things that appear to be simple, like these cactus flowers or the leaf picture.
The photo, the colors and the composition are simple, but the object photographed is by no means simple.
As with us humans, we look simple on the outside, but if you dive below the surface and look under our skin, you’ll find vast complexity. If you look at our thoughts and mind, you’ll find even more complexity.
Today, I don’t want to go there.
Today I feel lost. I watched a documentary. It said the 95% of the Universe is composed of Dark Matter (23%) and Dark Energy (72%). I don’t know what that means. I don’t know how astrophysicists figure that stuff out. Apparently, no one knows what this dark matter and energy is. We only know about it because of the effects we see on known matter and energy. To explain what we can see, we need dark matter and dark energy. I think I blew a fuse.
I know some people love to contemplate such things. I used to be one of them. My gray matter is no longer up to the task.
So, when I came across Rasheed’s words and my simple photo of a leaf on some boards, I had to pause and appreciate it. I needed to be drawn back to life and words like: Gratitude, Love, Patience and Kindness.
Rasheed, you also came to my rescue with this amazing story that gave me the idea of some how to compose this one.
I hope you enjoyed these photos and thoughts. And I hope I didn’t cause you to blow a fuse, too. I hope it will inspire you to write your next story about the enjoyment of simple things. If it does, please tag me. I’d love to see what you come up with.
As always, comments appreciated. If you are up for some not-so-taxing reading, try these:
Happy Reading, Writing and Connecting!
© 2020 R. R. Jasper — All rights reserved
