A Cross by Bodhi Smith

Apr 26, 2019

"a cross" a new impression from bodhi smith
 
"love is the way across life. love is your crossing. love is the bridge that connects you to the only thing that matters" ― bodhinku, crossing
 
“nobody can build the bridge for you to walk across the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone. there are, to be sure, countless paths and bridges and demi-gods which would carry you across this river; but only at the cost of yourself; there is in the world only one way, on which nobody can go, except you: where does it lead? do not ask, go along with it.” ― friedrich nietzsche, thus spoke zarathustra
 
“magical places are always beautiful and deserve to be contemplated...always stay on the bridge between the invisible and the visible” ― paulo coelho, brida

“i searched for god among the christians, and on the cross, and therein, i found him not. i went into the ancient temples, and i entered mountain caves, but no trace of him was there. so with set purpose i crossed oceans and the wildest streams, and fared to the summit of mountains, but found him not within any range of water or of land. finally, i crossed unto myself, i looked into my own heart and there i saw him; he was nowhere else” ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved  
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MEANING
multnomah falls in the columbia river gorge just east of portland, oregon is pictured here...

this impression i took with my camera a little over a week ago, is created from the middle portion of multnomah falls...the bridge spans the natural portion of where the upper part of the falls is separated from the lower part of the falls. and it's specifically this smaller isolated section of this impressively tall waterfall that i wanted to emphasize, for it holds so many beautiful metaphors, and gives them a presence in this new impression, present in such flowing visual and virtual meanings...
 
we all have bridges we must cross, sometimes with others, sometimes alone...these bridges can lead us across turbulences and trouble, keeping us safe...or, they can be burned down to break contact when we need to forgive and forget, move forward and leave things behind. however, bridges can also be connections to joy and happiness, linking happy moments to more happy moments...bridges are our path across and over, connecting us from with in ourselves to all the things that matter on the other side, a true cross...
 
the title "a cross" has a dual meaning as i like to have with many of my images...most obviously, the bridge in this image helps you to get across the falls, from one side to the other...but with the way i framed this image, i wanted to create and overall impression, which if you look at it as a whole, at the crux of the image, you will see "a cross" created by the intersection of the waterfall and bridge, making a very spiritual element of this impression...the water flows where it needs to flow, and the bridge crosses the falls at the spot were it was destined to go...and i also wanted the image to be very minimalist, and not get drawn into feeling like i needed to show the entire waterfall from top to bottom, just this smaller portion in the middle of the falls to create the impression i wanted to make...hope you enjoy it
 
btw, the last time i visited this iconic location, i had my best friend and muse with me, the dude, who passed away last may 2018, almost a year ago now...he crossed his bridge to where he needed to be where i could not follow him, and i carried on along my path where i need to be...but for this new image of multnomah falls, on this visit with me, i had my new sidekick, besos, my new pup...the two of us living out our own unique adventures together, walking quietly in those bigger footsteps travelled before, but at the same time also making our own pawprints in new experiences to new places...crossing into new escapades, into times full of new joy, new excitement...but never forgetting, and always still remembering the memories of one so loved, with so many of his footfalls forever repeating little pitter-patters on my heart...i miss the dude, but get to embrace new love in a new special being, a beautiful budding relationship...that is truly a blessed bridge i have recently crossed...
 
amazingly this image has almost no editing, easily one of the least processed images i have ever released...this is almost exactly how it appeared in-camera...and as always, i used both gnd and nd filters for this composition...the nd filter was needed to soften the waterfall and slow down time, and to also help oversaturate the colors and enhance the greens in the image, plus i used one gnd filter to help balance the composition in-camera...and truly this impression would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use...for this image i chose the 6-stop progrey genesis 1.8nd filter, as well as a 0.9gnd progrey genesis filter to step down the light which is much brighter at the top of the falls even though the sunset already passed, and to help balance overall the image in-camera...
 
"well, jumping off the bridge, that is not it, not even close...for you see, it's not crossing the bridge in the first place, doing nothing in the name of love, that is the most reckless thing you can do" ― bodhinku, the bridge
 
"yes, you need to cross your t's and dot your i's...but more importantly, cross your bridges and open your eyes" ― bodhinku, cross  
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HISTORY & MORE QUOTES TO ADD FEELING
 the word multnomah being the name given to the indigenous inhabitants of this area before the europeans ever settled in this area of oregon... legend has it that this waterfall got its name because it was created by the great spirit in honor of chief multnomah's daughter...the story maintains that the tribes along the columbia river had been celebrating the marriage of chief multnomah's daughter to a great warrior in a neighboring tribe. the happiness didn't last long, however, before the area experienced an illness that affected all of the tribes along the river. the tribal medicine man claimed the great spirit had told him all of the tribe would die unless the spirit received a sacrifice; but not just any sacrifice, the chief's daughter's life. the chief wouldn't allow it, but when the daughter saw the sickness affect her loved ones, she willingly left in the middle of the night to go to the top of a sheer cliff overlooking the columbia river. she threw herself off the cliff. when the chief found his daughter's body, he prayed to the great spirit for a sign that her spirit was well. water began pouring from the cliff and became known as multnomah falls.
 
when you're weary, feeling small
when tears are in your eyes, i'll dry them all
i'm on your side, when times get rough
and friends just can't be found
like a bridge over troubled water
i will lay me down
like a bridge over troubled water
i will lay me down  

when you're down and out
when you're on the street
when evening falls so hard
i will comfort you
i'll take your part, when darkness comes
and pain is all around
like a bridge over troubled water
i will lay me down
like a bridge over troubled water
i will lay me down

sail on silver girl
sail on by
your time has come to shine
all your dreams are on their way
see how they shine
oh, if you need a friend
i'm sailing right behind
like a bridge over troubled water
i will ease your mind
like a bridge over troubled water
i will ease your mind ― paul simon, bridge over troubled water
 
“some bridges you crossed on your own, no matter who drove you to the edge” ― j.r. ward, dark lover

“it's funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations, and hope. this is a design of divinity that i appreciate and cherish” ― steve maraboli, unapologetically you
 
"she crossed some paths
that would not have crossed,
took some moments in her hand
shook them up
and spilled them like dice
over the living world” ― jandy nelson, the sky Is everywhere
 
“everyone has something of beauty about them. but loving lets you look, and look, and look again. you notice the back of a hand, the turn of a head, the way of a walk. when you first love, you look blind and you see it all as the glorious, beloved whole, or a beautiful sum of beautiful parts. but when you see the one you love as pieces, as why's, you can love those parts too, and it's a love at once more complicated and more complete.” ― ally condie, crossed
 
"their kiss bridged the gap between the two worlds, even if only for that one brief, sparkling moment. a sigh that held the weight of years shuddered" ― aprilynne pike, wings
 
“sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” ― a.a milne, the house at pooh corner
 
“gratitude builds a bridge to abundance” ― roy t. bennett, the light in the heart
 
“let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good” ― maya angelou, celebrations
 
“love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it empowers us to develop courage...to trust that courage and build bridges with it...to trust those bridges and cross over them so we can attempt to reach each other" ― maya angelou, celebrations
 
“in a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime, and never again, no matter how many bridges your cross or lifetimes you live” ― robert james waller, the bridges of madison county
 
“great souls burn bridges before they come to them” ― e.e. cummings
 
"my creatures are born of a long denial, i keep them on the other side of the bridge"― pablo neruda, love
 
“there are no mistakes. the events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, whatever bridges we cross, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go” ― richard bach, the bridge across forever
 
“love is the bridge between you and everything” ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul: journeys into the music and silence of the heart  
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"the path i follow both spiritually and literally, is metaphorically much like that of the shape of a cross, there are always distractions crossing in front of me, shorter, easier ways to the left or right, that i can chose to follow, or instead follow my heart, steady down the longer way, often the more difficult way, the right way on my own path, to where i know i need to be" ― bodhinku, a cross
 
"contemplate without thinking. stop the world. slow down everything. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light that envelope you. see the melody and harmony that floats about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence within your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith. this is my world. awaken." ― bodhinku, my world
 
above all else as always, i hope this message and image find you well.

namaste,
bodhi
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