Seeing With Artist's Eyes

Just mine...no Ansel Adams photography...

Ansel Adams has been a favorite artist of mine for over 30 years. His photography shows glimpses of what just lies below the surface of the mundane and ordinary world. On Sunday I went to the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis to view his exhibit. As I peered into each photograph, I discovered anew that the world he captures is simply amazing. Within those black and white photos lie the gradients of the extraordinary.

I could have studied one photo for hours discovering a nuance of lighting or a detail hidden from first glance. One particular photo vividly contrasted the storm line with a shadow thrown by the sun not yet obscured by clouds. When I looked closer at the image, I discovered a cow grazing. All combined to bring the scene vibrantly alive.

His way of perceiving challenged me, and I wondered how the world would appear if I saw the world with artist’s eyes.

•      Would this shift in perception enable me to see the extraordinary hidden in plain sight?
•       Would I discover that nothing is truly ordinary and mundane?
•       Could I develop a way of perceiving that would invite me to joyously celebrate every moment of every day?
•       But, most importantly, how could I begin this shift to seeing with artist’s eyes?

I believe this way of experiencing life is what Benedict calls “listening with the ear of our heart.” In my writing, I refer to this as full body listening. It seems that this perception is not just about the eyes but about experiencing the world with our entire being.

The world being my laboratory, I decided to consciously experiment during my walks through Draut Park. Before leaving my apartment, I center by focusing on several cycles of my breath. This focusing helps me move into the silence of my quiet mind. From this place of calm I turn my awareness out into the world. And, then I experience life unfolding with my eyes, my ears, my nose, my taste buds, and my entire body. In my multi-sensory hyperawareness my world becomes textured.

How could I ever have thought any facet of the world was mundane or ordinary? Through my multi-sensory hyperawareness I connected to the sacred and the extraordinary by listening with the ear of my heart by engaging all of my senses. In those moments I see with artist’s eyes.

How do you move from experiencing the world as mundane to being part of the extraordinary?

Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com