The birth of the notion surrounding walking long distances was firmly rooted in the idea that walking would allow me to shrink my life a little. Let's face it, when you're moving at a walking pace it's pretty difficult to get too very excited about things that are happening outside of arm's reach. That's what I thought when I started this process anyway.
Life has a way of giving you what you need rather than what you expect, and walking turned out to be one of those cases. At the beginning, walking did shrink my world, but that's because most of the world that I knew was pure fiction being invented by my mind. I remember the first six miles of walking I did in a semi-serious manner. Not because I had the incorrect footwear, and I'd managed a pretty bad blister at that point. That happened of course, but the thing that strikes me about those first six miles is that I could not escape the debate raging in my head. I was wondering what it would feel like. I was worried about being bored. I wondered what the turnaround point would look like, and if it would bring a sense of elation or dread.
Seventeen miles later, my outlook has shifted just a bit. By that point, after walking on blisters for about eleven miles, my primary focus was my feet. I didn't care what it would feel like to get to the end. I just wanted the interminable miles to end. I'd seen the turnaround point, and it turned out to be just about like every other point on the walk. My world had certainly been minimized to arm's distance. Thinking about any more was too difficult.
As time passed, and my mind continued to calm, the debate subsided. I started to notice things I'd never even imagined existed as I'd become used to passing them at vehicle speed. While the space of my life had contracted, the richness of the experience started to expand as seeing took a back seat and observing took over.
Sometime during that transition, photography became a practice that crept its way into my routine, and at that point the expansion of my world really took off. It's too long of a story for a short blog post, but my photography began to shape my social networking behavior. When in the past, I rarely passed up the opportunity for an internet battle, the calmness of mind that was developing began to pull me away from that sort of behavior.
About twenty months later, I've gotten to the point of posting only pictures and offering only encouraging comments to my fellow etherworld travellers. Even photography is a pretty light touch since it's rare that I post more than one or two photos a day.
As time passed and I practiced, I'd like to think I've gotten a little better at the mindfulness and the photography aspect. I've even begun to think it may be a way to earn a living while pursuing the pilgrimage. That's probably wildly optimistic, but just a few days ago I took a photo at a location I frequent that someone offered to purchase.
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| Settling in for a Long Winter - Severn River - Annapolis, MD |
First, I'm exceedingly grateful that my photography is triggering a positive reaction with my friends. Secondly, the possibility of developing a market for my amateur photography, albeit a very small one right now, heartens me and gives me the courage to realize I might be on a the right path.
Instead of selling this print, I'm going to give it away. The encouragement is more valuable to me than any monetary remuneration. I few days ago I was a crazy man with a dream, but my friends encouragement has banished the crazy and put the doubts back in the box.
This photo is going to that brave individual who was willing to ask for it, and it will be retired as a one of one artist proof. Similar to businesses framing their first dollar, I hope to look back on this photo as the place where my journey finally really got traction. Thank you Nikki for the encouragement, and although I don't know what will happen tomorrow, you've given me the courage to keep stepping along.
