Colours by Bodhi Smith

Sep 17, 2021

"colours" a brand new impression and blog from me...
 
"look at all these vibrant colours, how can you not feel alive? just being able to breathe in all of nature's beauty, and then exhale pure love. life is good, so good." ― bodhinku, colours
 
"don’t ask what love can make or do! look at the colors of the world" ― jalaluddin rumi  
 
"our life is a colouring book...together we color our world onto the vibrant pages with our radiant hues, saturating and warming our lives with a beauty that's so filled with colourful luminosity, just like sparkling sunbeams shining through a thousand colourful leaves ablaze on autumn trees" ― bodhinku, colourful life  
 
"the world is full of magic and colourful things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper" ― w.b. yeats
 
"as the colorful leaves in the fall let go of their resistance to the changing seasons, to their branches, to their pasts and fly into the fall air, so do we all in the autumn and this one is especially so with a vibrant changing tapestry during this time which has the power to bring about an entirely new landscape into our lives....the energy of the autumn mirrors this inward journey as we shift our attention from the external world and begin to make our descent into the darkness once more. this is not a time to mourn the end of summer, but to embrace the changing of the tides; the death and rebirth in the seasons, and of the self in a colorful and vibrant way. autumn leaves tumble to the earth below and show no fear in the dance from branch to ground. they know the time has come, they feel it deep within; the time to evolve with the changing season is here. in the coming twilight, we open to the transformation that flows and surrender to this time of celebrating what was, grieving what has ended and opening to all that has yet to be. so they let go of the branch and fly into the unknown embracing the icy winds and uncertain horizons. the time to surrender to the fall has come once more. i wish you much love and light upon your colorful journey" ― c. ara campbell 
 
"together
our colours sing,
ablaze with a
melody of passion hues
drenched with reds, and
yellows, and oranges,
mellowed by greens, and
cooling blues...
whispering silently upon
the morning breeze,
we're autumn's leaves
falling from trees,
landing in the river
floating quietly away, upon
still waters,
wrapped around
colourful sighs,
a simple, single, infinite
moment of living to
love"  ― bodhinku, floating colours 
 
"i felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, river, trees, all the colors. i thought, this is what it is to be happy" ― sylvia plath, the bell jar 
 
"my world was the size of a crayon box, and it took every colour to draw her" ― sarah kay, no matter the wreckage  
 
"colour is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment" ― claude monet   
 
"i couldn't care less what the colours are in reality" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo
 
"every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree" ― emily bronte 
 
"if you learn to really sit with loneliness and embrace it for the gift that it is…an opportunity to get to know you, to learn how strong you really are, to depend on no one but you for your happiness…you will realize that a little loneliness goes a l-o-n-g way in creating a richer, deeper, more vibrant and colorful you" ― mandy hale, the single woman: life, love, and a dash of sass
 
"people observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. a single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. murky darkness. in my line of work, i make it a point to notice them" ― marcus zusak, the book thief
 
“what if we could stop being different colors, different backgrounds, and just be in love?" ― e. lockhart, we were liars
 
this song is the newest 2021 release from the black pumas, and the tune has been steadily climbing up the alternative charts...its message is very optimistic about embracing a love and togetherness for all colours of people, just the same as when we embrace our favourite colors in nature...this song is named the same as my impression today, and with its wonderfully beautiful lyrics, it is the perfect accompaniment to connect music with the meaning of my impression and blog today: "colors" by black pumas ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the musical selection)....

"i woke up to the morning sky, first. baby blue, just like we rehearsed. when i get up off this ground, i shake leaves back down to the brown, brown, brown, brown 'til i'm clean. then i walk where i'd be shaded by the trees, by a meadow of green for about a mile. i'm headed to town, town, town, in style with all my favorite colors, yes, sir. all my favorite colors, right on. my sisters and my brothers see 'em like no other. all my favorite colors...it's a good day to be. a good day for me. a good day to see my favorite colors. colors, my sisters and my brothers, they see 'em like no other, all my favorite colors...now take me to other side. little bitty blues bird flies and gray clouds, or white walls, or blue skies. we gon' fly, feel alright and we gon' (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh), yeah. it sounds like (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh), yeah. the least i can say, i anticipate a homecoming parade as we renegade in the morning. right on with all my favorite colors, yes, sir. all my favorite colors, yes, ma'am. my sisters and my brothers see 'em like no other, all my favorite colors, all my favorite colors, right. all my favorite colors, yes, ma'am. my sisters and my brothers see 'em like no other all my favorite colors...it's a good day to be. a good day for me. a good day to see my favorite colors, colors. my sisters and my brothers they see 'em like no other, all my favorite colors"― black pumas, colors   
 
"no one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite" ― nelson mandela, long walk to freedom
 
"she said simply, 'my favorite color is you'...and that's all it took for love to take me" ― bodhinku, colour of love
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty. stop the world. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colours of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhinku, my world    
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MEANING
"listen to a leaf in autumn as it lets go and falls slowly down. listen as it softly lands in the stillness of the river below. listen as it floats in all the reflections of all the colors of all the other leaves. the sound is beautiful, the silence is perfect. you can hear the colours, listen to their lesson" ― bodhinku, colours
 
this picture is all about bold and bright colours, and how we live in colours, and yet at the same time live with all the inevitable changes that happen to all of us... (and btw, i love all of the bubbles floating by in the foreground as they go down the stream in the image, almost like little stars in the water...)
 
just as a leaf know it's time, in the autumn it embraces change as it fearlessly lets go of the safety of the tree, falls and dances to where it needs to be...such a beautiful metaphor for all of us... just let go, dance, and fall in love with life's changes
 
and look at all the beautiful colors we are surrounded by...the soft violets in a morning sunrise as it turns into a powder blue sky; the greens of grasses, evergreen trees, and fields of crops; all those colorful flowers: yellow sunflowers, red roses, pink carnations, bluebells, lavender, and purple lupines; the beautiful reds and oranges and yellows of the leaves of trees in the fall, and those same beautiful colors wrapped into a sunset...
 
and look at all these vibrant colours here in this image, how can you not feel alive? just being able to breathe in all of nature's beauty, and then exhale pure love. life is good, so good.
 
.we live through colors all through our days, from the different clothes we all wear, to all the varieties of food we eat, to the cars we drive, to the paint on the walls surrounding us at home and work, to all those colorful birds singing in our tress, to all the different colors of skin of the people with whom we interact each day...
 
we pass though colours, and they are interwoven into the fabric of being human, we live and breath colours...
 
so, we can learn so many lessons from the trees in the fall...live and be alive like the trees. breathe it all in as you listen to autumn speak to you, letting go of everything like the falling leaves, floating in the hues of all these colours reflecting your life, and moments lived...all of the colours you have lived...
 
and here is another truly beautiful song, vocalized so powerfully, yet softly by one of the best musical voices of my generation "true colors" by cyndi lauper ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"you with the sad eyes, don't be discouraged. oh i realize it's hard to take courage in a world full of people. you can lose sight of it all, and the darkness inside you can make you feel so small. but i see your true colors shining through. i see your true colors, and that's why i love you. so don't be afraid to let them show your true colors. true colors are beautiful like a rainbow...show me a smile, then don't be unhappy. can't remember when i last saw you laughing. if this world makes you crazy and you've taken all you can bear, you call me up, because you know i'll be there. and i'll see your true colors shining through. i see your true colors, and that's why i love you. so don't be afraid to let it show, your true colors, true colors are beautiful like a rainbow...if this world makes you crazy and you've taken all you can bear, you call me up because you know i'll be there. and i'll see your true colors shining through. i see your true colors and that's why i love you. so don't be afraid to let it show, your true colors, true colors. true colors shining through, i see your true colors and that's why i love you. so don't be afraid to let them show. your true colors, true colors are beautiful like a rainbow" ― cyndi lauper, true colors  
 
"falling into the mist
through colourful trees
on wings of love

becoming a part
of colours ablaze
in autumn's leaves

holding each colour
with floating kisses
on sighs of feathers" ― bodhinku, colours
 
"the sun shines down upon us, the lucky ones...you're the radiant autumn leaves, so bright and vibrant, so vivid and ablaze with warming colors...i am your reflection in the river, only just a bit darker, and hazy opaque, and slightly blurred, more cooled by the waters (but still burning for you)...but we're complimentary mirrors to each other, such beautiful simplicity, two incomplete parts of the perfect whole, we are together one the same...one love in the glowing light" ― bodhinku, the lucky ones  
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MORE BODHIKU QUOTES
and now here are a few more quotes from bodhinku from past blogs to help add to the deeper meaning of this blog today...
 
"like hues bleeding through a watercolor, so are the days of my life" ― bodhinku, days of my life
 
"if i were the trees, i would have my leaves transform to yellow and red and orange, and let them light up the sky with their golden shades at sunset, and then they would circle about your head as they float down, falling in piles at your feet, so that you might know this colorful wonder of falling in love" ― bodhinku, watercolours 
 
"just as a autumn transforms a beautiful tree, fully ablaze in only its best colors, and blooming in full wisdom from all the seasons, so will the words well spoken bring out the best in the one who puts them into practice" ― bodhinku, ablaze in practice
 
"like leaves on trees in autumn, and like colors in a watercolour, nothing in my life has been permanent, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful" ― bodhinku, a watercolour     
 
"looking back over my memories, my life is like watercolours that have bled and faded. but sometimes i find my blurry reflections are so much more beautiful than a focused reality could ever have been" ― bodhinku, watercolours  
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
my god, i wait patiently, keeping faith for the day in my life one day when i can feel this way, and sing this song to her, and i know she is out there somewhere even though i have yet to meet her, feel the love of coloring outside the lines with a lady who wants to do the same with me...and here is: "colouring outside the lines" by misterwives ... (just click on any of words in the powder blue links to listen to the musical selection) ...
 
"they say time slips away when you're having fun. that's why you said, let's change our life to a dull one...don't wanna blink one day and this will all be over, if only time could stop so we'd never grow older...yet in the same breath i look forward to the day, when our skin has aged i'll love you just the same...our canvas will have endless hues and shades, because of all the vivid colors that we made...say, what we wanna, do, make it all come true, because nothing is impossible with you...open my eyes to see you and i, can't believe this is life. open my eyes, saturated sunrise doesn't seem as bright when we're coloring outside the line....so matter the day, no matter the night, our love will keep burning, keep burning bright. no matter the low, no matter the high, my darling our love will never run dry...we're coloring outside the lines" ― mandy lee (lead singer misterwives), colouring outside the lines
 
"nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. the winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn" ― john muir, the mountains of california
 
"in our life there is a single color, as on an artist palette which provides the meaning of life and art. it is the color of love" ― marc chagall  
 
"what colour is in a picture, enthusiasm is in life" ― vincent van gogh
 
"i often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day" ― vincent van gogh
 
"this is me saying that i would set myself ablaze to bring color to all of the dark places within you" ― beau taplin
 
"i want only five things, five chosen roots...one is an endless love. two is to see the autumn ablaze in color. i cannot exist without colorful leaves flying and falling to the earth. the third is the solemn winter, the white snow i loved, the caress of fire warming in the rough cold. fourth, the summer, plump as a watermelon, green as moss. and fifthly, your colorful eyes, my dear love, i won’t sleep without your eyes, i won’t exist without your gaze, i adjust the spring for you to follow me with your eyes. that, is all i want. next to nothing, close to everything in the love within the color of your eyes" ― pablo neruda, i explain a few colorful things

"i hunger for your sleek laugh and your hands the color of a furious harvest. i want to eat the sunbeams flaring in your beauty" ― pablo neruda

"love is a feeling completely bound up with color, like thousands of colorful autumn leaves superimposed one on top of the other" ― paulo coelho

"beauty is present in all creation, but the danger lies in the fact that we allow ourselves to be influenced by what people think. we deny our own beauty because others can't or won't recognize it. we try to imitate what we see around us. we try to be what other people think of as 'pretty', and little by little, our soul fades. we forget the world is what we imagine it to be. we stop being the sun and become, instead, the pool of water reflecting it" ― paulo coelho, manuscript found in accra
 
"the whole world may say there is a rainbow in the sky, and there is colour everywhere, and the sun is rising. but if my eyes are closed, what does it mean to me? the rainbows, the colours, the sunrise, the whole thing is non-existential to me. my eyes are closed, i am blind. and if i listen to them too much, and if i start believing in them too much, and if i borrow their words and i also start talking about the rainbow that i have not seen, about colours which i cannot see, about the sunrise which is not my experience, i may become lost in the forest of words" ― osho, a bird on the wing
 
"do not let intimacy disappear. do not be afraid of deep intimacy. find it, go deep into the colors of each other's being without fear...for the other's pool of being will reflect you" ― osho, book of wisdom  
 
"he especially liked to look at the trees and their reflections in the river. trees are beautiful in deep autumn: greens, yellows, reds, oranges, every shade in between, their dazzling colours glowing with the sun" ― nicholas sparks, the notebook
 
"i wish i had the talent to paint the way i feel about you, for my words always feel inadequate. i imagine using red for your passion and pale blue for your kindness; forest green to reflect the depth of your empathy and bright yellow for your unflagging optimism. and still i wonder: can even an artist’s palette capture the full range of what you mean to me?" ― nicholas sparks, the longest ride
 
"there is no envy, jealousy, or hatred between the different colors of the leaves in the autumn. and no fear either. because each one exists to make the others’ love more beautiful" ― aberjhani

"a kind of light spread out from her. and everything changed colour. and the world opened out. and this day was good to awaken to. and there were no limits to anything. and the people of the world were good and handsome. and i was not afraid anymore" ― john steinbeck, east of eden
 
"you know what autumn looks like...the trees go all red and blazing orange and gold, and wood fires burn at night so everything smells of crisp branches. the world rolls about delightedly in a heap of cider and candy and apples and pumpkins and cold stars rush by through wispy, ragged clouds, past a moon like a bony knee" ― catherynne m. valente, the girl who circumnavigated fairyland
 
"fall colors are funny. they’re so bright and intense and beautiful. it’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary" ― siobhan vivian, same difference
 
"in october, the sun filled the world with mellow warmth...the maple tree in front of the doorstep burned like a gigantic red torch. the oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze. the fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet. everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her...in october, any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible" ― elizabeth george speare, the witch of blackbird pond
 
"cyrano: the leaves...
roxane: what color...perfect venetian red! look at them fall.
cyrano: yes...they know how to die. a little way from the branch to the earth, a little fear of mingling with the common dust....and yet they go down gracefully, in a fall that seems like flying!" ― edmond rostand, cyrano de bergerac
 
"love what you have, enjoy what the world gives you. like the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. the leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter" ― shauna niequist, bittersweet: thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way 
 
"i loved to be alone in the woods, especially in the late fall when everything is crisp and golden, the leaves the color of fire, and it smells like things turning into earth. i loved the silence..." ― lauren oliver, before i fall

"autumn is the time when nature takes her colors to the trees" ― laura jaworski 

"how beautifully leaves grow old. how full of light and color are their last days" ― george burns 

"winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all" ― stanley horowitz 
  
"leaf! you are so big!
how can you change your
color, then just fall!
as if there were no
such thing as integrity!" ― frank ohara, lunch poems

"heart beats fast, colors and promises...how to be brave, how can i love when i'm afraid to fall? but watching you stand alone, all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow...one step closer...i have died everyday, waiting for you...darling, don't be afraid, i have loved you for a thousand years...i'll love you for a thousand more" ― chistina perri, a thousand years

"and i see colors in a different way
you make what doesn't matter fade to grey
life is good and that's the way it should be" ― echosmith, bright

"you brought to me life, you open my eyes. and how did we become greater than we are?...i'm seeing colors vivid and bright, how did, how did you do this?...my feet are up in the sky, heaven's so close, i could kiss it. and maybe it's you, and maybe it's me too. maybe, i wish we could hold our breath until we know what's next. i wish i could open my chest and show you everything" ― skylar stecker, how did we?

"if i had to paint a picture to show the world how true love can really be, i would use the brightest colors to create a vision of harmony. and it would be a reality, because it's only what's inside of my heart, and you would see i've always loved you right from the very start...and the colors of the rainbow turn grey whenever you're so far away. it changes like the seasons. you're the reason it happens that way--what you see are colors of emotion reflecting what i feel deep inside. tell me what is the color of love? what do you see? is it warm? is it tender when you think of me? i see the color of love when i'm thinking of you as a picture perfect painting of love forever true...and though many may try to keep us apart, the colors that i see in you will shine a light to see us through, no matter what the world will do i'll always love you."  ― billy ocean, color of love
  
"laying in my bed, i got this feeling. only silent pictures talk to me this way in my head. by my head, sits the soundtrack to the movie, and the voices fade the moment i hit play. sounds like watercolor, anything to drown me. i will sleep until i sing myself awake. and i always liked it better when the morning rises sooner, and i can't recall a single word i said. it's not like i can't stop, pull back the playback in my head. i could lie here, i could lie you know. maybe i can find a place, where them old movies never go. i could try it (doesn't matter). i could try it though (it doesn't matter). sounds like watercolor, anything to drown me. i will hide until i find myself awake and it sounds a little better. when it gets a little louder, by the morning if i make it, i'm okay...(pack your bags it's time to panic, 15 years in automatic, cellar door leads to the attic, what was jesus thinking? get there faster if we drive, 12 short steps to the sunny side, got a backstage pass and a bitchin ride, and everything comes easy. that was easy)...last time you felt like this, it was in a movie. last time you felt like this, everything was perfect...sounds like watercolor, anything to drown me. i will sleep until i sing myself awake. and i always liked it better when the morning rises sooner and i cant remember anything. well it sounds like watercolor. it sounds like anything, anything. it sounds like watercolor, and it sounds like anything, anything. and it sounds like watercolor. well, it's all like anything, anything" ― kevin moore, watercolor     
 
"into this new love, your way begins on the other side. become the sky and take an axe to the prison wall, escape, walk out like someone suddenly born into color! do it now!" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
 
"inside each of us, there’s continual autumn. our leaves fall and are blown out over the water. a crow sits in the blackened limbs and talks about what’s gone. then your generosity returns: spring, moisture, intelligence, the scent of hyacinth and rose and cypress" ― jalaluddin rumi, whispers of the beloved   
 
"don't flounder in the preambles of the past, wounded with regrets; don't let autumnal nostalgia blind you to the sounds and scents of the present's spring; make it infinite beyond the curving snake of passing time and space. learn to die in the infinitely elusive moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, the music and silence of the heart
 
"there’s a morning when presence comes over your soul. you sing in your earth-colored shape. your heart hears and, no longer frantic, begins to dance" ― jalaluddin rumi, a year with rumi
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"we can learn so many lessons from the trees in the fall...live and be alive like the trees. breathe it all in as you listen to autumn speak to you, letting go of everything like the falling leaves, floating in the hues of all these colours reflecting your life, and moments lived...all of the colours you have lived" ― bodhinku, colours lived
 
captured 22 mins after sunrise, and before the sunshine directly hit the river valley, this composition is comprised entirely of one long exposure (f/11 @77mm for 11secs, iso-64)...and this single frame was not merged with any other exposures like i often do with my photography to achieve the perfect lighting of the entire scene...  
 
in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and balance the light in my composition in-camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter in my completed impressions...
 
for this exposure, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i used two progreyusa filters in the capture of this composition, a 3.0nd progrey antarctica filter to bring the light in the image down 10 stops to create more smoothness in the water and misty fog layer...plus naturally staurate all the yellows, reds, and oranges in the image, combined with a 0.9 gnd progrey aurora filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the brighter sunlight coming through in the trees in the upper righthand portions of the image an extra three stops and help permit a richer balance of light and thus the colours in the exposure...
 
i also used the progrey g-120z magnetic holder to hold the filters and secure them to my favourite lens, the nikon d810 with a nikon nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8... 
 
and with this being a quasi-long exposure of 11 seconds with a heavy zoom lens attched to my nikon d850, a stable and sturdy tripod is an absolute necessity in order to keep the image sharp, and keep the camera from moving and blurring the trees...i wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead with the induro stealth carbon fiber tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhinku, if nothing else
 
"i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses" ― bodhinku, into my photography
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary" ― bodhinku, my diary  
 
i leave you today wishing that bright joy 
and spiritual peace fill your life...
imploring you to make every moment count, 
no matter what, always and forever, 
for that is the only thing that truly matters... 
  
 
and above all else,
i hope this message and impression find you well.
 
namaste,
bodhi
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