Holding On by Bodhi Smith

May 28, 2021

"holding on" a brand new impression and blog from me...
 
"life is a constant balancing act between holding on, and letting go" ― bodhinku, holding on
     
"used to live in the danger zone, any day it could get too rough. now i'm glad i kept holding on, now i'm glad i had soul enough...holding on, now i'm standing in the light" ― steve winwood, holding on 
 
"the best thing to hold onto in life is each other" ― audrey hepburn
 
"i think that i shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
a tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
a tree that looks at god all day
and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
a tree that may in summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair;
upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who intimately lives with rain.
poems are made by fools like me,
but only god can make a tree." ― joyce kilmer 
 
"be the lone cypress holding onto the cliff's edge above the ocean, standing there with your branches outstretched upward, tasting the fog, waiting for the air to clear, waiting for clouds to break and give way to blue skies...waiting for the sunbeams to sing down and warm your soul all the way down to your wet roots" ― bodhinku, be the tree 
 
"don't let go too soon, but don't hold on too long" ― mitch albom, tuesdays with morrie
 
"there ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? you can only love what you got while you got it" ― kate dicamillio, because of winn-dixie
 
“it's strange how we hold on to the pieces of the past while we wait for our futures" ― ally condie, matched 
 
"most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. acceptance is a small, quiet room" ― cheryl strayed, tiny beautiful things
 
this song is the perfect accompaniment for my impression here, but not just because it carries the same name as my impression...but the fact it's lyrics match so much of the deeper meanings i hope you feel from my photograph and written words today...such a good feeling kinda song, uplifting and hopeful...  "holding on" by steve winwood from the late 1980s ...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...  
 
"used to live in the danger zone, any day it could get too rough. now i'm glad i kept holding on, now i'm glad i had soul enough...you turned night into day and showed me how my soul could sing. you took my hurt away and showed me love conquers anything...when two hearts both feel the same, there's a way to beat the game...holding on, now i'm standing in the light. holding on and this time i'll get it right. holding on every day and every night. holding on...fall asleep in your lover's arms, and it's just like it ought to be. just be thankful she keeps you warm in a world where there's nothing free. give her love every day and pay attention when she dreams. and she'll be good to you, because sometimes love is just what it seems...when two hearts both feel the same, there's a way to beat the game...holding on, now i'm standing in the light. holding on and this time i'll get it right. holding on every day and every night. holding on...see the mountain water keep flowing down into streams. now it holds on forever. we'll be holding on forever...people should be searching all night long for a reason to help them live. and i do hope they hear this song to get through...take and you get to give. it can be in a smile. it can be there in a touch. it warms the world a while, when it's love it can't be too much...when two hearts both feel the same, there's a way to beat the game...holding on, now i'm standing in the light. holding on and this time i'll get it right. holding on every day and every night. holding on, holding on...holding on, yes i'm standing in the light" ― steve winwood, holding on 
 
"the heart can think of no devotion
greater than being shore to the ocean-
holding the curve of one position,
counting an endless repetition." ― robert frost
 
"let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them"― rabindranath tagore  
 
"some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. however, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it" ― ann landers
 
"this lone cypress tree also loves its place, loves to be just where it is, where it was meant to be all along. it's holding on to the cliff to live its beautiful life at the edge of the sea...the joys of its long life: feeling the ocean breeze, smelling the fresh salt air, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing, hearing the songs of the seagulls and pelicans who visit, relaxing to the solitude of calm nights under the stars, awakening to precious foggy mornings that slowly burn away so as to bask in the warm california sunshine" ― bodhinku, lone cypress tree
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MEANING
"trees are so majestic in both form and being...they are holding on and letting go at the same time...that's because no matter where trees find themselves, they're always simultaneously touching the ground and reaching for the sky" ― bodhinku, majestic trees
 
seems that i've a habit of taking pictures of lone trees standing all alone...i surmise that something about them mirrors my own impression of myself, and i'm deeply fascinated by them and capturing their deftness and beauty with my camera...
 
this impression is all about holding on for dear life, but also knowing when to let go...
 
in life there are so many things we try to hold on to dearly, but then again there are also so many things we think we need, when in reality, we really need to just let them go and move on...
 
somethings are worth holding on and never letting go...and we need to just let some things be, and let them go...life is a constant balancing act between holding on, and letting go...
 
"there is love in holding on, and there is love in letting go" ― elizabeth berg, the year of pleasures
 
we all want to hold onto living and staying young at heart deep inside. we want to hold onto our loved ones, fur babies, friends, and family. we want to hold onto our inner peace and live in our comfort zones. holding on to our truth and promises. holding on to our dreams and hopes. holding on to forgiveness and love. we want to hold on to all those memories of happiness and sweet joys, holding on to all those moments that take our breath away...
 
but we must let go of things...
 
as death is a huge part of life, sadly loved ones pass on, and pets cross over the rainbow. we must say our goodbyes and let them go...and job, friendships, and relationships die, end, or just do not work out, and we must let them go along with the people they were tied to...just letting go of lies, pride, and ego; letting go of fantasies, the fake, and the unattainable...
 
and if you seem to be living a life embedded with the meaning of  this famous quote: 
 
"the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" ― albert einstein 
 
well, then you need to let that go too and move on...some things are just crazy to keep holding on to...
 
and we must continually let go of menial things, things that seem important, but are just trivial nuisances. we must let go of all those unsettling thoughts, anger, and prejudices. we must let go of all the noise and embrace solitude in our hearts...
 
at times, it's a judgement call as to what we need to be holding on to the most...we can only pray that we have good judgement in those cases, follow our hearts and not our minds, yet at other times, follow our instincts and not our hearts...constantly shifting from holding on to letting go...
 
ever watch the movie, the titanic? it is truly a movie about balancing between holding on and letting go, that theme is repeated throughout the movie by most of the characters. and it is that simple theme that makes the movie so powerful, and such a beautiful love story about holding on and letting go...
 
"(jack): promise me you will survive....that you will never give up...not matter what happens...no matter how hopeless, rose, promise me now, and never let go of that promise...(rose): i promise...(jack): never let go...(rose): i promise. i will never let go, jack. i’ll never let go" ― james cameron, the titanic
 
and getting back to the subject of my impression today...
 
this lone cypress tree is a metaphor for holding on to life, holding on to its spot where it belongs, staying the course on its path. persevering through adverse times, the changing tides, surviving through the weathering of father time and mother nature...
 
it's holding on to all that is dear to it...
 
this lone cypress tree also loves its place, loves to be just where it is, where it was meant to be all along. it's holding on to the cliff to live its beautiful life at the edge of the sea...the joys of its long life: feeling the ocean breeze, smelling the fresh salt air, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing, hearing the songs of the seagulls and pelicans who visit, relaxing to the solitude of calm nights under the stars, awakening to precious foggy mornings that slowly burn away so as to bask in the warm california sunshine...
 
but times are getting hard for the lone cypress. its time is being elongated by mankind. people  who desperately want to hold onto its beauty and the symbolic strength it represents to the pebble beach community in carmel, ca...recently, in february 2019 a large part of the tree broke off due to a severe pacific storm, and that event panicked many people who worried about the majestic cypress being taken away forever...now unfortunately, it's being unnaturally supported by cables to hold it up, and life lines to stabilize the cliff where its roots have grown down into mother earth...
 
again, there must be a delicate balance between holding on and letting go...and there is always the right time for letting go. as this tree must one day do, as we all must do as well.
 
"letting go is so much easier than holding onto something that is not real" ― bodhinku, letting go
 
this song is a powerfully beautiful song of encouragement, and it goes along perfectly with the meaning of my blog and impression today...it's from 1990, but is a special tune that had a resurgence in popularity again 20 years later by being used prominently in the movie "bridesmaids" in 2011...give it a good listen and sing along with a smile... "hold on" by wilson phillips, hold on ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...  
 
"i know there's pain. why do you lock yourself up in these chains? no one can change your life except for you. don't ever let anyone step all over you. just open your heart and your mind. is it really fair to feel this way inside?...someday somebody's gonna make you want to turn around and say goodbye. until then, baby, are you going to let 'em hold you down and make you cry? don't you know? don't you know, things can change, things'll go your way if you hold on for one more day. can you hold on for one more day? things'll go your way, hold on for one more day...you could sustain, or are you comfortable with the pain? you've got no one to blame for your unhappiness. you got yourself into your own mess. ettin' your worries pass you by. baby, don't you think it's worth your time to change your mind?...someday somebody's gonna make you want to turn around and say goodbye. until then, baby, are you going to let 'em hold you down and make you cry? don't you know? don't you know, things can change, things'll go your way if you hold on for one more day. can you hold on for one more day? things'll go your way, hold on for one more day...i know that there is pain, but you hold on for one more day, and ya break free from the chains. yeah i know that there is pain, but you hold on for one more day, and ya break free, break from the chains...someday somebody's gonna make you want to turn around and say goodbye. until then, baby, are you going to let 'em hold you down and make you cry? don't you know? don't you know, things can change, things'll go your way if you hold on for one more day, yeah...make up your mind to hold on, hold on, baby hold on" ― wilson phillips, hold on
 
"you are part of me, i carry you in my heart, engraved into my spirit, entwined with you like roots of a tree holding on to my soul...you are part of the tree of love, because without your roots and whispering softness, i wouldn't blossom...you are part of my blossom, because i've heard that earth smiles in flowers, and i smile because of you...you are part of my smile, and you are the blossom, and roots to my soul...you are forever part of me, i carry you in my heart"  ― bodhinku, my tree of love
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"we want to hold on to all those memories of happiness and sweet joys, holding on to all those moments that take our breath away" ― bodhinku, holding on 
    
pictured here is the famous lone cypress tree tenaciously perched on its cliff at the sea's edge just after the sunset. and it's a site that's easily found along the beautiful 17 mile road that winds through the affluent community of pebble beach, ca...

if there was a hall of fame for trees, first-ballot entries would definitely include the avenue of the baobabs in madagascar, the cedars of god in lebanon, general sherman in the giant forest of sequoia national park and the tree of life in bahrain....

also a sure-fire hall of famer is the lone cypress. you’ve probably seen at least one photograph at some point in your life of the lone cypress. it stands along the famously scenic 17-mile drive on the monterey peninsula in pebble beach, ca (which you must pay $10.75usd to gain access and drive the private road)...it's raked by wind, swaddled in fog, clinging to its wave-lashed granite pedestal like god’s own advertisement for rugged individualism.
 
the lone cypress improbably sprung from a seedling on that rocky outcropping before the birth of our country, some 250 years ago. now, it might be the most photographed tree in north america. it sits alongside one of the world’s most beautiful (and expensive) golf courses. it's a marketing tool, a registered trademark, a western icon...

founder and staunch environmentalist samuel f.b. morse identified the lone cypress as the ideal embodiment of pebble beach resorts: "the solidity of the rock, vaguely reminiscent of gibraltar, yet with the life of a rugged tree, native only to this area, clinging with tenacity above the power of the ocean. land, tree and ocean were the basis of this development, and therefore the lone cypress became the perfect symbol"

this is one spindly old conifer, small for its species, scarred by a long-ago arson and attempted vandalism. and for more than 65 years, half-hidden steel cables have held the tree in place.
 
and in mid-february of 2019, a severe pacific winter storm with gale force winds pounded the monterey peninsula and damaging hundreds of trees, including the lone cypress, breaking off a major limb and reducing its size by about 1/3...

the pebble beach company reported to the associated press that despite the damage, an arborist examined the cypress and confirmed it is “healthy and remains secure on its rocky perch,” and that the loss of a limb was “a natural part of the evolution of the lone cypress tree.” (the lone cypress has been the registered trademark of the pebble beach company for over 100 years since 1919)

even if you haven’t read don delillo’s novel “white noise,” you have felt like the character in it who gazes upon tourists as they gaze upon the most-photographed barn in america. "no one sees the barn," he says, "once you’ve seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn." people take pictures of it and leave to say that they have been there and seen that barn. but they did not really see it or experience it. they simply took a photo and went about their trip and the rest of their life...
 
it's exactly that same way with the lone cypress. people come, stay briefly, take a picture, and go about the rest of their sightseeing. even other professional photographers take their picture and move on, with their focus being on getting that "money shot" rather than feeling the tree and its unique surroundings...and that's a huge shame imho...
 
so when you finally get to such a magical place, you want to spot something that will draw you closer or transform your perspective. you want to understand what’s changed and what hasn’t since that first person who tried to capture this tree with their camera. and you want to know what waits beyond the edge of what others have seen, your own point of view and perspective...  

i always want to see what i'm photographing...i stay many hours and often revisit a location numerous times before i ever capture an impression with my camera which i feel is worthy of the essence of my subject and does it justice. as is the case here, i have taken many pictures of lone cypress through the years, but have never been happy with my results until now...
 
while still remaining true to my style of long exposure photography, i feel i've managed to capture the lone cypress' majesty, its perseverance, its ability to hold on to its life and place on its cliff. catching at the same time, its rugged individualism that's so symbolic of the california lifestyle, and that of my own personally...
 
the los angeles times describes the mystical and inspiring tree this way: "it stands along famously scenic 17-mile drive, raked by wind, swaddled in fog, clinging to its wave-lashed granite pedestal like god’s own advertisement for rugged individualism...this tree is to the monterey peninsula what the pyramids are to egypt, what the eiffel tower is to paris"
 
"the true art of photography, it's all about enjoying the entire experience, feeling everything all around you with all your senses, surrounding your entire soul in the dance of nature that is surrounding you. it's not about just capturing the picture and going home contented..." ― bodhinku, the dance of nature
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
sometimes truly beautiful songs come from unexpected sources...i have always loved the hard rock band "disturbed", especially for their song "the light" that often appears in my blogs...but this beautiful song is not a rocking tune, and it is not a love ballad, it's totally different and uncharacteristic of anything this band has ever recorded before or since...it's simplicity is its beauty, as it's a soft song with a beautiful message, almost like one you would hear from the dalai lama or some other highly enlightened and spiritual sage... "hold on to memories" by disturbed ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection) ...

"listen, everyone, the time will come when all of us say goodbye. feel that aching in your heart leaving you broken inside. but we're never really gone as long as there's a memory in your mind. so now go do the best things in life, take a bite of this world while you can. make the most of the rest of your life. make a ride of this world while you can. take the ones you love and hold them close because there is little time. and don't let it break your heart. i know it feels hopeless sometimes, but they're never really gone as long as there's a memory in your mind...so now go do the best things in life, take a bite of this world while you can. make the most of the rest of your life. make a ride of this world while you can and hold on to memories. hold on to every moment to keep them alive. the world's greatest tragedy: souls who are not remembered cannot survive...so now go do the best things in life, bring the fight to this world while you can. make the most of the rest of your life. shine your light on this world while you can and hold on to memories. hold on to every moment to keep them alive...the world's greatest tragedy: souls who are not remembered cannot survive...and hold on to memories, hold on to every moment to keep them alive...the world's greatest tragedy: souls who are not remembered cannot survive (cannot survive)" ― disturbed, hold on to memories    
 
"under the bodhi tree i sat, where each new second eradicated its past in this brief mystery of time. i took the cricket's call to be a sign of divine eternity...under the bodhi tree i sat, thinking the unthinkable. raindrops fell to quench the thirst of insects and plants. my compassion rose to quench the thirst of heaven. i took the rain to be a sign of divine love~and was finally at peace with myself and divinity" ― beryl dov, buddha under the bodhi tree
 
"holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha
 
"gently eliminating all obstacles to his own understanding, he constantly maintains his unconditional sincerity. his humility, perseverance, and adaptability evoke the response of the universe and fill him with divine light" ― lao tzu, tao te ching
 
"a storm howls in my soul. a wild torrent of madness, feral, dark and raw, echoing my longing through the ancient cypress trees...the cliffs bears witness to the spell that forms upon my lips. a ritual woven of hope and aching desire whispered to the crashing waves, witnessed by a blanket of starlight...there i stand in the darkness, digging my roots deep into the moss below. anchored in the solace of the earth, awaiting the rebirth that comes with in the illumination of the milky way...i'm the altar upon which the winds of change do blow. here i wait in silent worship. surrendering at the edge of the unknown, opening to all that lies beyond...at long last she rises, a jewel shining on the horizon calling to the depths of my spirit. a feast of nightsong to sooth these weary bones, her great strength granted to my outstretched branches...here my spirit is born. here my eyes finally see. here where all things are eternally free" ― c. ara campbell, the storm in my soul (with additions by bodhinku)
 
"self love is an ocean
and your heart is a vessel. make it full,
and any excess will spill over
into the lives of the people
you hold dear. but you must come first" ― beau taplin, remedy
 
"what did the trees learn from the earth, to be able to talk with the sky? ...and why do the trees conceal the splendor of their roots?" ― pablo neruda, the book of questions
 
"and i'm going to hold on to what little i have, because i'm too insignificant to conquer the world" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist   
 
"sadness gives depth. happiness gives height. sadness gives roots. happiness gives branches. happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes" ― osho, book of wisdom
 
"if you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. your mind is your predicament. it wants to be free of change. free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. but change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality" ― dan millman, way of the peaceful warrior    
 
"love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin. the inexplicable fact is that the blinder it is, the more tenacious it is. it's never stronger than when it is completely unreasonable" ― victor hugo, the hunchback of notre-dame  
 
“trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, we fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness” ― kahlil gibran, le prophete   
 
"the new trend of capturing pictures instead of enjoying the experience is not new. the human mind has been doing that for ages. your mind tries to capture the experience by naming, defining, judging, comparing and categorizing everything. as a result, your soul misses the live dance of colours, sounds, shapes and sensations happening before you" ― shunya
 
"the trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven”― rabindranath tagore, stray birds  
 
"hope is hugging me, holding me in its arms, wiping away my tears and telling me that today and tomorrow and two days from now i'll be just fine and i'm so delirious i actually dare to believe it" ― tahereh mafi, shatter me  
 
"people think a soulmate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. but a true soulmate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back...they tear down your walls and smack you awake. but to live with a soulmate forever? nah. too painful. soulmates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave" ― elizabeth gilbert, eat, pray, love
 
"to live in this world you must be able to do three things: 1. to love what is mortal; 2. to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, 3. when the time comes, to let it go" ― mary oliver
 
"can you imagine, for example, what the trees do, not only in lightning storms or the watery dark of a summer's night, or under the white nets of winter, but now, and now, and now--whenever we're not looking?...surely you can't imagine they don't dance, from the root up, wishing to travel a little, not cramped so much as wanting a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly more shade?...surely you can't imagine they just stand there loving every minute of it, the birds or the emptiness, the dark rings of the years slowly and without a sound thickening, and nothing different unless the wind, and then only in its own mood, comes to visit?...surely you can't imagine patience, and happiness, like that?" ― mary oliver 
 
"when you find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will stand in front of you when other’s cast stones, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who will hold your hand when your sick, who thinks your pretty without makeup, the one who turns to his friends and say, ‘that’s her’, the one that would bear your rejection because losing you means losing his will to live, who kisses you when you screw up, watches the stars and names one for you and will hold and rock that baby for hours so you can sleep…..you marry him all over again" ― shannon l. alder
 
"let today be the day you stop being haunted by the ghost of yesterday. holding a grudge and harboring anger and resentment is poison to the soul. do not get even with people who have wronged and hurt you, forget them, instead get even with those who have helped you and loved you" ― steve maraboli, unapologetically you   
 
"a tree that longs to reach the heights of heaven must sink its roots to the bottom of the earth" ― friedrich nietzsche, beyond good and evil
 
"it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves" ― william shakespeare, hamlet 
 
"i have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow i'm still in love with life. this ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?" ― voltaire, candide
 
"the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. she may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break—her heart. so don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there" ― bob marley   
 
"holding on for life...hopelessly holding on to all those perfect nights. let's pretend it's not gone, and say we'll never die, say we'll never die" ― elle goulding, holding on for life
 
"you see it all around you, good lovin' gone bad. and usually it's too late when you, realize what you had. and my mind goes back to a girl i had some years ago who told me: just hold on loosely, but don't let go. if you cling to tightly, you're gonna lose control...your baby needs someone to believe in and a whole lot of space to breathe in. it's so damn easy, when your feelings are such, to overprotect her, to love her too much...and my mind goes back to a girl i knew some years ago who told me: just hold on loosely, but don't let go. if you cling too tightly babe, you're gonna loose control. your baby needs someone to believe in, and a whole lot of space to breathe in. don't let her slip away, sentimental fool. don't let your heart get in her way. yeah, yeah, yeah...you see it all around you, good lovin' gone bad. and usually it's too late when you, realize what you had...just hold on loosely, but don't let go. if you cling to tightly, you're gonna lose control. your baby needs someone to believe in and a whole lot of space to breathe in. just hold on loosely, but don't let go. if you cling too tight babe, you're gonna lose it, you're gonna, lose control..." ― 38 special, hold on loosely
 
"i think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time" ― joseph beuys, what is art?
 
"knowing trees, i understand the meaning of patience..." ― hal borland, seasons
 
"for me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. i revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. and even more i revere them when they stand alone. they are like lonely persons. not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like beethoven and nietzsche" ― hermann hesse, siddhartha
 
"it hurts to let go. sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold on to something or someone the more it wants to get away. you feel like some kind of criminal for having felt, for having wanted. for having wanted to be wanted. it confuses you, because you think that your feelings were wrong and it makes you feel so small because it's so hard to keep it inside when you let it out and it doesn't coma back. you're left so alone that you can't explain" ― henry rollins
 
"the worst part of holding on to memories is not the pain. it's the loneliness of it. memories need to be shared" ― lois lowry, the giver
 
"i know that the whole point—the only point—is to find the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight for them, and refuse to let them go" ― lauren oliver, delirium

"i'm sorry for my inability to let unimportant things go, for my inability to hold on to the important things" ― jonathan safran foer
 
“if we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees" ― rainer maria rilke, love poems to god  
 
"you know that you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever; and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it" ― kiera cass, the elite
 
"when you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on" ― teddy roosevelt
 
“keep your spirits up in the branches of a tree and i do not peek out too far” ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
     
"i choose to love you in loneliness…
for in loneliness i can have you,
i choose to adore you from a distance…
for distance will shield you from my pain,
i choose to kiss you in the wind…
for the wind is gentler than my lips,
i choose to hold you in my dreams…
for in my dreams, you have no end"― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul   
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"in life there are so many things we try to hold on to dearly, but then again there are also so many things we think we need, when in reality, we really need to just let them go" ― bodhinku, holding on 
  
captured just as the sun was setting behind me, at 8:15pm on may 22, 2021...this composition is comprised entirely of one long exposure (f/11 @66mm for 111secs, 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 3.0 nd progrey antarctica filter to bring the light in the image down 10 stops to create this dreamy effect with motion blur of the water and clouds and naturally saturate all the blues and reds in the image, and 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 sky which was much brighter than the rest of the image, about an extra three stops and help naturally balance out and darken the sky and also permit details in the shadows come out better in the exposure...
 
i also used the progrey g-120z magnetic holder to hold the filters and secure them to my nikon d850 with a nikon nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8... 
 
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 induro phq-1 series 5-way panhead with accompanying induro 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 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
 
"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 colors 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
 
"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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