MEANING
"i need to keep heading into the unknown without fear or purpose. for me, the true unknown is what lies in the reality of my heart, devoid of thoughts, between my instincts of where i'm headed and where i need to be in my life" ― bodhinku, into the unknown
on the surface, the meaning of this image is easy to ascertain...for in this photograph, you are looking into the eye of "unknown arch" in the alabama hills of the eastern sirra mountains close to lone pine, california. so that, combined with the vast milky way and all of the unknown of space above it, you can easily see the meaning of the title of this impression, "into the unknown"...of course, the true meaning of this impression and blog can be taken much deeper...
"unknown" is defined as: something that is not recognized, familiar, comfortable, or within the scope of knowledge...
sometimes it is nice to be unknown, or somewhere i do not recognize, or in a situation that i find myself uncomfortable, or learning about a topic i know nothing about...sometimes it's nice to just be, and "not know"...
sometimes not knowing where you are going is exciting, but sometimes it's terrifying to head into the unknown. sometimes we play it too safe and stay in our known comfort zones, and do not push ourselves to explore both the unknown around us, as well as the dark unknown inside us...we can sense the unknown we need to know, it's just beneath the surface, but we cannot quite focus on it clearly, visiting it only in lucid dreams, unable to retain its meaning after we awaken. but sometimes we need to be startled awake and scared absolutely shitless in order to find out our true self and fulfill our subconscious needs...
i have no answers, and i do not claim any insights, all i know is that i'm being simultaneously chased by the unknown while i'm pursuing its meaning at the same time. i innately seek the unknown truth, not fantasy or lies. the most harmless lie is more hurtful than the most painful truth...i need a reality of happiness that is not fake, just as much as i need my dreams to soothe me and give me hope. you have to let go and lose yourself in order to know the unknown...
i'm a giant oxymoron, full of contradictions in my thoughts and actions, bordering on hypocrisy...i embrace being alone with open arms, yet i despise its loneliness too. i'm not happy, but i'm way less sad these days. i only find true wisdom within the solace of my dumbest moments. i'm a good teacher, but i feel like i know nothing. i desperately want to protect beautiful wild places and keep them sacred, yet i expose them to the dangers of the masses with my photography. i'm unknown by others, and even more unknown to myself, i think the only beings who have truly known me for who i am have been my two doggies: the dude (2003-2018) and besos (2018 to now)...i don't have much luck with other humans, and they do not seem to have much need for me lately either...
so i instead find myself welcomely isolated more and more often these days, yet still longing for the feel of another human being, especially the soft touch of a loving woman...
so with each passing day, i instead find myself all alone with my doggie. and maybe being with the furry little guy is all i need right now. maybe just like in the call of the wild, it's in moments with him that i find my path, a true love, my calling, my happiness. finding the truth of besos and i together in our adventures wherever we go, in the wilderness under the stars ducking coyotes and chollas, or hiking across an alpine snow field, or being giddy together in a pristine redwood forest, or in the yard playing catch with his frisbee...or in our ordinary down times, falling asleep together on my bed, then waking up next to him as he stretches and licks me in the face...i need to appreciate what i have and not seek out that which i'm lacking...
i need to keep heading into the unknown without fear or purpose. for me, the true unknown is what lies in the reality of my heart, devoid of thoughts, between my instincts of where i'm headed and where i need to be in my life. happiness becomes a fluid situation, as the path i walk feels like it's unknown to me at the same time it's clear...but that's not a bad thing, to know some things and be clueless of others, to just be and "not know"...
this next song is just about as close to perfect as you can find in any tune to the deeper meaning of this blog...this song is from the disney animated cartoon, "frozen 2" and it also has the same title as my impression here today, an esoteric song with powerfully emotionally charged lyrics: "into the unknown" by panic! at the disco ...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...
"into the unknown, into the unknown, into the unknown..i can hear you but i won't. some look for trouble while others don't. there's a thousand reasons i should go about my day, and ignore your whispers which i wish would go away...you're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear. and if i heard you, which i don't, i'm spoken for i fear. everyone i've ever loved is here within these walls. i'm sorry, secret siren, but i'm blocking out your calls. i've had my adventure, i don't need something new. i'm afraid of what i'm risking if i follow you into the unknown, into the unknown, into the unknown...what do you want? 'cause you've been keeping me awake. are you here to distract me so i make a big mistake? or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me? who knows deep down i'm not where i'm meant to be? every day's a little harder as i feel your power grow. don't you know there's part of me that longs to go into the unknown? into the unknown, into the unknown...whoa, are you out there? do you know me? can you feel me? can you show me? where are you going? don't leave me alone. how do i follow you into the unknown?" ― panic! at the disco, into the unknown
"happiness becomes a fluid situation, as the path i walk feels like it's unknown to me at the same time it's clear...but that's not a bad thing" ― bodhinku, into the unknown
STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"sometimes not knowing where you are going is exciting, but sometimes it's terrifying to head into the unknown. sometimes we play it too safe and stay in our known comfort zones, and do not push ourselves to explore both the unknown around us, as well as the dark unknown inside us" ― bodhinku, into the unknown
lately, one of my obsessions has been seeking out new places to photograph. i have been scouting out new locations, trying to find unique subjects for my impressions. on a recent trip to lone pine, ca with my doggie besos, i was able to drive and hike around to find six new arches in the nearby alabama hills. as far as i know, each arch has not been photographed much and are all still very fresh and new (probably not for long, as instagram seems to find and ravage everything these days)...
this arch is on the list of "unknown" arches in the area, over 25 of them in all, and is the first of this new group that i will be releasing for other to see..."unknown arch" a beautiful arch, with a perfect aspect to the milky way core early in the mw season...hope you enjoy it as much as i loved shooting it and spending time all alone with my doggie under the stars, and then for a beautiful eastern sierra sunrise...
very rare these days to find any great star location that does not have another 3 or 5 photographers trying to capture the same scene...very pleasant and peaceful, but as soon as this arch gets "discovered" by the masses on social media, that will all change and never be possible again, tranquility and beauty destroyed forever...
obviously and consequently, i will not be releasing the location of this photogenic arch, but all it takes is one big photographer with a big following on social media to do a workshop here, and this spot will be forever ruined and lose its beautiful innocence...
"how did we end up here, sifting through our own ashes? our fires burned brighter, we were a beautiful disaster traveling at speeds where we couldn't see anything that passed us. but no one can survive at the speed of life forever. we are miles from where we were, lost in a wanderlust. but time moves on and carries us into the wild of the great unknown...far beyond the horizons, we'll leave what's left of our ashes where we can free these faded memories forever (ever, ever, ever)...we are miles from where we were lost in a wanderlust, but time moves on and carries us into the wild of the great unknown, of the great unknown..." ― 10 years, the unknown
"i long for the moment our silence is broken. it's alright, it's alright, it's alright. another place, another time. we toed the same side of the line. yeah we saw eye to eye, even then the saddest sounds were nothing laughter could not drown. but we are not laughing now. i see your face in my sights. i hesitate and then look for a sign somewhere in the sky, these whereabouts unknown...please know you can come home, i long for the moment our silence is broken. it's alright, it's alright, it's alright...even together, we stand apart. swallow the sun, erase the sky. an invitation has been declined. where did you go? where did you go? these whereabouts unknown...please know you can come home, it's alright now because all is forgiven, if you could just listen. it's alright, it's alright" ― rise against, whereabouts unknown
"other pleasures gather a crowd, start a fight, lots of noise there. but soul beauty stays quiet..its amazing whereabouts unknown inside my heart" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
and here is another deeply meaningful tune: "the great unknown" by rob thomas ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection) ...
"people are talking what you can not know. and what you wanted wasn't me at all. so many people never cross that road, staring out the window of a combat zone. so just hold on driving through the valley of a great unknown open up the headlight. shine on, everyone around you has a heart of stone. but you just roll on, just roll on...people are talkin' but you can't be sure so many whispers at your own front door. and when you open up, you lose that hope. now you start to wonder if you're all alone. so just hold on, driving through the valley of a great unknown. open up the headlight, shine on. everyone around you has a heart of stone, but you just roll on. remember walking when you thought you couldn't stand. remember what it feels like. i know you think that they could never understand. oh but you don't wanna be right, and now you only wanna make it out alive. so just hold on, driving through the valley of a great unknown. open up the headlight, shine on. everyone around you has a heart of stone, but you just roll on, just roll on, just roll on..." ― rob thomas, the great unknown
"any good person who is motivated to attain awareness of the whole truth should follow the universal way to calm his mind and harmonize into the unknown." ― lao tzu, tao te ching
"quantum physics itself is a kind of spirituality...insofar as it's always looking farther into the unknown to see what is beyond the known. it is a search for ultimate reality" ― albert einstein
“whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. making your unknown known is the important thing--and keeping the unknown always beyond you" ― georgia o'keefe
"i don’t feel very into me. i don't feel very together...i have none of the super energetic spark that normally fuels me. the creative urges and brilliant insight that usually burns seems to be replaced with a fire of a different kind, a consuming flame that rises into gnawing uncertainty...my get-up-and-go got up and left leaving in its place a deep inquiry that has me restless and unsettled...you reach a point in some situations where you just want to blurt out what’s on your mind already no matter the consequence. you move past the quiet politeness of caring the outcome and just need to unburden your spirit with the unspoken threads of a thousand unfinished conversations left frayed and blowing in the breeze...that’s the energy that rises upon this weary soul, that’s the song that plays on my nerves. the wild call of deep, direct inquiry that feeds the need for blunt interaction like a truth-seeking missile...i can feel the energy pulling at the skin that covers these bones...it begs me to untie the laces and shatter into the unknown, breaking open in complete surrender to all that begs to come. it chips away at the walls once built and demands that i rebel against what existed only as a facade before making way for the flow of authentic truth, no matter the cost...the rawness of a thousand half-truths slip from me into the darkness leaving me fumbling past the illusion searching for the reality left behind. sifting through the remnants and fragments of sentences, i feel lost...what to speak? what to leave in the stillness of the shadow? what to bury in the snow until the thaw of spring?...words. what good are they anyways?...all this clutter trying to describe things loved, imagined, unknown or unseen; the dreams, the fears, the desires. how do you properly wrap it all up in syllables?...better to speak them rooted in deep feeling than to never speak them at all...and i wonder if you can seek asylum somewhere from the conspiring energies of the sun and moon?...i give up....dropping my guard i give in; i don’t need the shields anymore, not where i’m going....where i tread forward, to the place of dancing openly with the unspoken as it makes its way into the light, i just don’t need all the masks. they would be unwelcome in the glaring brilliance of truth. the dress code for this party is bare, raw and naked...come what may, this is when i shall come undone" ― c. ara campbell, into the unknown
"night air, good conversation, and a sky full of stars can heal almost any wound" ― beau taplin, remedy
"to feel the intimacy of brothers is a marvelous thing in life. to feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life. but to feel affection that comes from those whom we do not know, from the unknown to us, who are watching over our sleep and solitude, over our dangers and our weaknesses-that is something still greater and more beautiful because it widens out the boundaries of our being and unites all living things." ― pablo neruda
"a man sets out on a journey, dreaming of a beautiful or magical place, in pursuit of some unknown treasure. at the end of his journey, the man realizes the treasure was with him the entire time" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist
"never miss the unknown. always choose the unknown and go headlong. even if you suffer, it is worth it–as it always pays off. you always come out of it more grown up, more mature, more intelligent" ― osho, awareness: the key to living in balance
"reason is an effort to know the unknown and intuition is the happening of the unknowable. to penetrate the unknowable is possible, but to explain it is not. the feeling is possible, the explanation is not." ― osho, the hidden splendor
"you can be enlightened if you simply live your life authentically, spontaneously, if you have the courage to go into the unknown on your own, as an individual, not leaning on anybody" ― osho, the pathless path
"he was there alone with himself, collected, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the darkness by the visible splendors of the constellations, opening his soul to the thoughts which fall from the unknown...lighted like a lamp in the center of the starry night, he felt something depart from him, and something descend upon him, mysterious interchanges of the depths of his soul with the depths of the universe" ― victor hugo, les miserables
"when you walk to the edge of all the light you have, and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. there will be something solid for you to stand upon, or you will be taught to fly" ― richard bach, jonathan livingston seagull
"the ego relies on the familiar. it is reluctant to experience the unknown, which is they very essence of life" ― deepak chopra, buddha
"before you can go inward and meet your supreme power, you have to go outward and meet your 4 invisible minds that control you. each one of them will give you their introduction through a different type of pain: (1) your beautiful future plans will collapse so that it will feel like end of the world. (2) your lover from heaven will turn out to be the devil from hell. (3) circumstances will make you break the morals and values that are integral part of who you are. (4) you will chase the mysteries and the unknown only to painfully realize that this universe is endless" ― shunya
"if you are so unique that you don't fit in any category, you are an unknown mystery to people. and people fear the unknown. as a distraction from fear, they laugh or talk nonsense about you" ― shunya
"your path is wide and straight before you, but my call comes up by ways from the unknown. i shall follow wind and cloud; i shall follow the stars to where day breaks behind the hills; i shall follow lovers who, as they walk, twine their days into a wreath on a single thread of song"― rabindranath tagore, the fugitive
"enrich your life. dream, explore and discover the unknown lands with new eyes, new lights and new truths" ― amit ray, world peace
"this heart yearns...
for the salt of unsmelt air
unswept thunderstorms...
"i have realized; it is during the times i am far outside my element that i experience myself the most. that i see and feel who i really am, the most! i think that's what a comet is like, you see, a comet is born in the outer realms of the universe! but it's only when it ventures too close to our sun or to other stars that it releases the blazing "tail" behind it and shoots brazen through the heavens! and meteors become sucked into our atmosphere before they burst like firecrackers and realize that they're shooting stars! that's why i enjoy taking myself out of my own element, my own comfort zone, and hurling myself out into the unknown. because it's during those scary moments, those unsure steps taken, that i am able to see that i'm like a comet hitting a new atmosphere: suddenly i illuminate magnificently and fire dusts begin to fall off of me! i discover a smile i didn't know i had, i uncover a feeling that i didn't know existed in me...i see myself. i'm a shooting star. a meteor shower. but i'm not going to die out. i guess i'm more like a comet then. i'm just going to keep on coming back" ― c. joybell c.
"when you have the courage to follow your talents into the dark unknown places they lead, often the universe will send angels to light your way" ― shannon l. alder
"me despierto y lo primero que hago es ver si me escribiste (escribiste). anoche te dejé un mensaje, pero no lo leíste (ah, yah). yo comprendo que tú no quieras saber más de mí, dicen que te perdí (te perdí). y yo no aguanto otra noche sin ti, otra noche sin ti. me duele tanto otra noche sin ti, otra noche sin ti, yeah-yеah...otro día que me despierto y en mi cama no estás dime de qué me sirve el cash (cash, cash). si lo que yo quiero no se compra (hey). de noche mi sombra te nombra. bájale al orgullo, quiero verte, detente (ah), loco, tú me tienes impaciente (yeah). de mis errores yo soy consciente (yeah), pero los cobardes también sienten (sienten). tengo que aceptar la realidad de no tenerte. nunca pensé que me llegara un oponente. el que menos pensé fue el que a ti te robó el corazón, y es posible que ahora estés con él bailando esta canción. y mi nombre se ha vuelto prohibido en esa habitación (come on). en tu cama hay un party, y en ese party no tengo invitación (invítame). en tu cama hay un party, y en ese party no tengo invitación, y yo no aguanto otra noche sin ti (nah, nah, nah)...otra noche sin ti, me duele tanto otra noche sin ti (come on). otra noche sin ti, yeah-yeah...been a while since i've seen your face. when you know it gets lonely in l.a. thinkin' of you every day. say the word, i'm on a one way. first i gotta follow your lead, listen to whatever you say, and act like i'm okay. why you want to cause my pain when you know i'm sorry? (you know) used to shed tears in the rrari. there i was wishin' you would stop me. here i am wishin' you would call me (oh). i'm outside and the rain is pouring hoping we'd be good at the morning (morning). you know i don't do it on purpose. you know i can't go another night without you (night, umm). no more nights without you (no more, no more). another night without you (night, night), no more nights without you...y yo no aguanto, otra noche sin ti (yeah). otra noche sin ti (yeah). me duele tanto, otra noche sin ti, otra noche sin ti. oh-oh (otro día que no sigue), así más tiempo sigue, tu cama le hace falta la mía" ― j. balvin & khalid, otra noche sin ti
"it is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself" ― voltaire
"how does it feel, how does it feel to be without a home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone" ― bob dylan
"you have no idea how marvelous you are, but i am not only here to protect what you are now, i am here to protect what you will become. i can't tell you what that might be, because i don't know. that unknown is a diamond in a universe of dirt. uncertainty. unpredictability. it is when you turn your emotions into art" ― hank green, a beautifully foolish endeavor
"i'm leaving for a destination i still don't know. somewhere nobody must have duties at all...now i won't feel those heavy shoulders no more, my life got better now i finally enjoy. yes all the people want to come here and so? come on and join us you can do that now let's go. follow me, and let's go to the place where we belong and leave our troubles at home. come with me, we can go to a paradise of love and joy, a destination unknown..." ― alex gaudino & crystal waters, destination calabria
"i am your lover, come to my side, i will open the gate to your love. come settle with me, let us be neighbors to the stars. you have been hiding so long, endlessly drifting in the sea of my love. even so, you have always been connected to me. concealed, revealed, in the unknown. in the un-manifest, i am life itself. you have been a prisoner of a little pond, i am the ocean and its turbulent flood. come merge with me, leave this world of ignorance. be with me, i will open the gate to your love" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved