Invisible Touch by Bodhi Smith

May 15, 2020

"invisible touch" a new impression from bodhi smith...
 
i hope you enjoy this new blog today, with my thoughts, my words, and the music selections herein... 
 
"once you have felt her invisible touch, you will never be quite the same again" ― bodhinku, invisible touch  
 
"in the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye, yet such twinklings are what eternity is made of--moments when we human beings can say "i love you," "i'm proud of you," "i forgive you," "i'm grateful for you." that's what eternity is made of: invisible imperishable good stuff" ― fred rogers, the world according to mister rogers 
 
"power, time, gravity, love. the forces that really kick ass are all invisible" ― david mitchell, cloud atlas
  
and this is the perfect song to hear as you read through my blog today. this is one of my all-time favorite songs from the 1980's... "invisible touch" by genesis...perfect lyrics to add to the feeling, meaning, and mood i hope for you to gain from my photo today...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the any song in this entire blog)

"well i've been waiting, waiting here so long. but thinking nothing, nothing could go wrong, ooh now i know, she has a built in ability to take everything she sees. and now it seems i'm falling, falling for her...she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah. she reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart. she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, it takes control and slowly tears you apart...well i don't really know her, i only know her name. but she crawls under your skin and you're never quite the same...and now i know she's got something you just can't trust. and it's something mysterious. and now it seems i'm falling, falling for her...she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, she reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart. she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, it takes control and slowly tears you apart...she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah...well she don't like losing, to her it's still a game. and though she will mess up your life, you'll want her just the same, and now i know, she has a built in ability to take everything she sees. and now it seems i've fallen, fallen for her...she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, she reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart. she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, it takes control and slowly tears you apart...she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah..." ― genesis, invisible touch 
 
"my heart is so small
it's almost invisible.
how can you place
such big sorrows in it?
"look," he answered,
"your eyes are even smaller,
yet they behold the world." ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved 
 
"if one sense breaks free from its bonds having a glimpse of the invisible, it makes it apparent to all the other senses...as, you have seen how when one sheep jumps over the creek the whole flock follows? so drive the flock of your senses to pasture and let them graze on the heavenly flowers in the garden of truth.”― jalaluddin rumi, the garden of the soul, the heart, and the spirit
 
"eyes look but cannot see it...ears listen but cannot hear it...hands grasp but cannot touch it...beyond the senses, lays the great unity of invisible, inaudible, intangible" ― lao tzu, tao te ching  
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MEANING
"although i cannot actually touch her, 
i am honored to have felt her 
invisible touch, 
forever hugging me with 
all her colors of love"  ― bodhinku, invisible hugs
 
even though i cannot touch her, the milky way has blessed me with her invisible touch and has forever taken my heart...and as such, i have fallen head over heals for the milky way, the biggest love of my life...
and i am again going to be doing a series of stars/milky way/mountain images over the next few weeks (or who knows, maybe months)...
 
and here are a couple more quotes from bodhinku to help bring a little deeper meaning to this image and my deeper darker thoughts...
 
"i dream my photograph, and i photograph my dream..." ― bodhinku, my dream
 
"in photographing the milky way and all the stars over these mountains, i feel the celestial heights of my silence" ― bodhinku, celestial heights  
 
"discover the celestial breeze you have inside you...quiet your mind and listen to your inner voice as it reflects the messages of the universe--those truths you know deep in your soul" ― bodhinku, inside
    
"i feel like sometimes i cannot live with the mountains, as my old life style and extreme activities in the mountains might kill me...and i cannot live without the mountains, because they are such a big part of me now that i cannot deny, though i have tried, man i have tried..." ― bodhinku, with or without

"take in the stars, the milky way, the universe, everything in reflections of light and memories..breathe, let it be, for.this is true meaning right now, embrace it and fall in love with that celestial peace welling up inside you" ― bodhinku, celestial peace    
 
"quietly in silence, i adore the milky way...i have been obsessed with staring at her beauty for these past couple of years. i am amazed and fascinated by how beautiful she is, no matter what position in the sky, or location on this planet she is found. and i am further obsessed in trying to create photographic impressions of her to show the world just how much i am in love with everything about her...she is the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever witnessed, glowing and lighting up my sky like nothing ever has before, or ever will again. she speaks to me with her silence, so much clearer than any mere mortal words with her thoughts permeating into my own. i love being with her all night long, just humbled by her grace and majesty, so magical and mystical, as she sings her silent songs to me and blinks at me with a billions eyes full of love...i feel her, i see her, i listen to her, and then i simply breathe, and my spirit is wrapped up into the whispers of her sighs, and i exhale her love...i simply adore her. all of her" ― bodhinku, milky way silence
 
here is some more music you can listen to as you read on with my blog. this is a new favorite of mine, just released a couple weeks ago, it has an nice beat and modern electronic wave sound to it, plus great lyrics too...it is another one most people might have never heard before, "the difference" by flume (featuring toro y moi)...this song is very kinda short, but soothing and easy on the ears as you read along...
 
"the difference in between all the faces you read when the grass ain't green, when you fix everything. i don't know about you, but i got to get it out and i don't know how soon. but if we die, i want to bring the whole thing...who cares about a game when it's all been replaced. each level feels the same. it really goes either way. i don't know about you, but i got to get it out and i don't know how soon. but if we die. i want to bring the whole thing...just another world that i gotta get a grip of and hold onto. just another world that i gotta get a grip of and hold onto, and hold onto..." ― flume (with toro y moi), the difference   
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMAGE
"i can feel her love shining, piercing the darkness, reaching through, into me...i cannot see it, this invisible touch, but you do not need to see something to know it is real" ― bodhinku, invisible touch
 
pictured here is the milky way over the beautiful n'one-ame peak in southern california...it is the tallest peak in location to where i was born, and i have always wanted to capture an impression of it that was unique in my own style, while at the same time respectfully doing the mountain a beautiful justice it so rightly deserves...
 
and as many of you know, one of my recent obsessions is to take photos that are unique to their location, and/or have never been done before, plus will also be difficult for others to try to imitate and copy...
 
i have skied n'on-ame peak years ago with my old pup, the dude, as well as climbed it on several occasions...and having driven past this peak so many times, one day recently i got a beautiful  vision in my mind's eye, with an idea of the possibility of capturing a nice impression with the milky way over top of it. possible because of its aspect to very dark skies to its south (in theory), despite all the light pollution flanking it on both its east and west sides...
 
and after getting tons of rain (and thus snow at higher levels) back in mid-april, i decided to try to get a unique impression of this iconic mountain with a nice snowcap and the stars...
 
after a couple scouting trips, and a couple failed attempts due to excessively high winds, good friend chip morton and i discovered it is possible to get stars at this location, and we both managed to get some great shots of this beautiful peak on April 23rd, 2020...
 
btw, there is an impressive waterfall in this image if you look closely enough...it flows seasonal only after rain and snow, and probably is about 100m tall...we tried to get close to it a couple times as well to shoot it, but were denied by high winds (again), a fenced off trail, wild brush and rattlesnakes...but will make a better attempt in the future again one day when it is flowing again...
 
"when one sense perceives the hidden, the invisible world becomes apparent to the whole" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi    
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
more music you can listen to as you read on with my blog, "invisible sun" by the police...this classic song from the 1980's is a bit more moody, but fits nicely into this blog's mood i feel...

"i don't want to spend the rest of my life looking at the barrel of an armalite. i don't want to spend the rest of my days keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say. i don't want to spend my time in hell looking at the walls of a prison cell. i don't ever want to play the part of a statistic on a government chart...there has to be an invisible sun. it gives its heat to everyone. there has to be an invisible sun that gives us hope when the whole day's done...it's dark all day and it glows all night. factory smoke and acetylene light. i face the day with me head caved in looking like something that the cat brought in...there has to be an invisible sun. it gives its heat to everyone. there has to be an invisible sun that gives us hope when the whole day's done...and they're only going to change this place by killing everybody in the human race. they would kill me for a cigarette, but i don't even wanna die just yet...there has to be an invisible sun, it gives its heat to everyone. there has to be an invisible sun, that gives us hope when the whole day's done ― the police, invisible sun   

"the power of such a mountain is so great and yet so subtle that, without compulsion, people are drawn to it from near and far, as if by the force of some invisible magnet" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada 
  
"eyes look but cannot see it...ears listen but cannot hear it...hands grasp but cannot touch it...beyond the senses, lies the great unity of invisible, inaudible, intangible" ― lao tzu, tao te ching  
 
"what is like a smelly fart, that, although invisible, is obvious? one's own faults, that are precisely as obvious as the effort made to hide them" ― dalai lama xiv, the art of happiness
 
"and god himself could bend the heavens and the earth, rain meteor showers, birth supernovas, spin whole galaxies into reality in the breadth of a moment, and still never come close to fathering a sight that could steal the breath from me like hers" ― beau taplin, the blueprint
 
"life, like photography, is a series of moments which capture our attention...these moments seduce us out of our normal routine, tantalizing our senses. for a brief pause in time, the stars align perfectly and a once in a million shot presents itself to our eyes, to our experience alone. we become a privileged private audience, beholding the magic and the mystery of the universe unfolding before us...life is much the same way, offering us the opportunity to look past the mundane and into the beauty that the world has to offer. it whispers to find the shot, find what is calling to our soul and move towards the expression of it. though sometimes harder than others, we are tasked with opening our eyes in order to see the best way towards this that we desire...look for the shot and take it. go after what you want. take the risk. in life, love, and photography" ― c. ara campbell, look for the shot  
 
"do tears not yet spilled wait in small lakes? or are they invisible rivers that run toward sadness?" ― pablo neruda, toward the splendid city
 
"don’t bother trying to explain your emotions. live everything as intensely as you can and keep whatever you felt as a gift from god. the best way to destroy the bridge between the visible and invisible is by trying to explain your emotions" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist  
 
"there comes a time when our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. but it’s still there" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist  
 
"our soul is governed by four invisible forces: love, death, power and time"― paulo coelho, adultery  
 
"magical places are always beautiful and deserve to be contemplated ..always stay on the bridge between the invisible and the visible" ― paulo coelho, by the river piedra sat down and wept

"you will feel, as the person leaves the body, as if some invisible flowers are falling upon you. although you cannot see them, you can feel them. it is sheer joy, so pure that even to have a little taste of it is enough to transform your whole life"― osho, the buddha said... 
 
"he kept staring at you all night. for a moment there, i thought his eyes were attached to you by an invisible string" ― nicholas sparks, the choice 
 
"what is art? how does one learn it? it is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do" ― vincent van gogh, letters to theo 
 
"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, and the invisible splendor of god, opening his soul to the thoughts which fall from the unknown. in such moments, offering up his heart at the hour when the flowers of night inhale their perfume, lighted like a lamp in the center of the starry night, expanding his soul in ecstasy in the midst of the universal radiance of creation, he could not himself perhaps have told what was passing in his own mind; he felt something depart from him, and something descend upon him, mysterious interchanges of the depths of the soul with the depths of the universe" ― victor hugo, les miserables  
 
"here is my secret. it’s quite simple: one sees clearly only with the heart. anything essential is invisible to the eyes" ― antoine de saint-exupery, the little prince
 
"if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. he will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings" ― henry david thoreau, walden  
 
"there seems to be a necessity in spirit to manifest itself in material forms; and day and night, river and storm, beast and bird, acid and alkali, preexist in necessary ideas in the mind of god, and are what they are by virtue of preceding affections, in the world of spirit. a fact is the end or last issue of spirit. the visible creation is the terminus or the circumference of the invisible world" ― ralph waldo emerson 
 
"we grope after the spiritual by describing it as invisible. the true meaning of spiritual is real" ― ralph waldo emerson  
 
“real love is those two thousand indistinguishable conversations, chatted over two thousand indistuinguishable breakfasts, where intimacy turns like a slow wheel. how do you measure the worth of becoming that familiar to somebody—so utterly well known and so thoroughly ever-present that you become an almost invisible necessity, like air?" ― elizabeth gilbert, eat, pray, love
 
"the whole sphere of air that surrounds us is alive with invisible attractions—electric, magnetic, fiery and thoughtful. there is a universal sympathy all around us…when we cease all argument and debate—both internal and external—our true questions can be heard and answered…that is the gathering of magic" ― elizabeth gilbert, the signature of all things  
 
"life becomes meaningful with a loving heart's gift upon the ocean of gratitude, soul's boat adrift invisible expectancy tossed and turned from the light of memories a blessed ray earned" ― munia khan  
 
"there is a string that connects us that is not visible to the eye. maybe every person has more than one soul they are connected to, and all over the world there are those invisible strings…maybe the chances that you’ll find each and every one of your soul mates is slim. but sometimes you’re lucky enough to stumble across one. and you feel a tug. and it’s not so much a choice to love them though their flaws and through your differences, but rather you love them without even trying. you love their flaws" ― tarryn fisher, mud vein  

"think of two people, living together day after day, year after year, in this small space, standing elbow to elbow cooking at the same small stove, squeezing past each other on the narrow stairs, shaving in front of the same small bathroom mirror, constantly jogging, jostling, bumping against each other’s bodies by mistake or on purpose, sensually, aggressively, awkwardly, impatiently, in rage or in love...think what deep invisible tracks they must leave, everywhere, behind them!" ― christopher isherwood, a single man  
 
"i love the way music inside a car makes you feel invisible; if you play the stereo at max volume, it's almost like the other people can't see into your vehicle. it tints your windows, somehow" ― chuck klosterman, killing yourself to live 
 
"you think you know someone, but that person always changes, and you keep changing, too. i understood it suddenly, how that’s what being alive means. our own invisible plates shifting inside of our bodies, beginning to align into the people we are going to become" ― ava dellaira, love letters to the dead  
 
"this is what our love is: a sacred pattern of unbroken unity sewn flawlessly invisible inside all other images, thoughts, smells, and sounds" ― aberjhani, the river of winged dreams  
 
"they lived the slow and invisible interpenetration of their universes, like two stars gravitating around a common axis, in ever tighter orbits, whose clear destiny is to coalesce at some point in space and time" ― paolo giordano, the solitude of prime numbers  
 
"we tend to see ourselves primarily in the light of our intentions, which are invisible to others, while we see others mainly in the light of their actions, which are visible to us" ― roy t. bennett, the light in the heart 
 
"there is an invisible strength within us; when it recognizes two opposing objects of desire, it grows stronger" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi  
 
“never lose hope, my heart, miracles dwell in the invisible. if the whole world turns against you, keep your eyes on your dream" ― jalaluddin rumi, hush don't say anything to god 
 
"if love were only spiritual, the practices of fasting and prayer would not exist...the gifts of lovers to one another are, in respect to love, nothing but forms; yet, they testify to invisible love" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi 
 
"the lover visible, the beloved invisible: whose crazy idea was this?"― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved  
 
"this is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. first, to let go of life. in the end, to take a step without feet; to regard this world as invisible, and to disregard what appears to be the self...heart, i said, what a gift it has been to enter this circle of lovers, to see beyond seeing itself, to reach and feel within the breast" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi    
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION 
"standing before her, she towers over and above me. i am in awe. i am humbled, but at the same time jealous of her silent and invisible life...my god, how my love grows, more and more each time she looks at me and glows" ― bodhinku, invisible love  
 
the impression which you see here is comprised of two separate exposures taken within a couple hours of each other and put together as one...in my photography i always use filters to create longer exposure effects and to 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...no filters were used in the exposure of the stars, but for the exposure of the snow capped peak, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i used two filters...for this, i chose to use the magnetic 3.0nd progrey antarctica filter (and progrey g-120z holder) to allow for a much longer exposure (10 stops) to saturate the greens and blues in the image...plus in combination with the 0.9gnd progrey g120 aurora filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it, as the sky and snowy-white tops of the mountains were much more brighter, about 3 stops brighter than the rest of the darker parts, especially the shadows of the foreground of the image composition...
 
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 trusty dolica tripods in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"in sweet silence of the star light, i see her radiance glowing bright above, i feel her angelic innocence, i play in her magical wilderness...i know my focus is always up to her" ― bodhinku, bright above  
 
"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. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhinku, my world
 
above all else as always, i hope this message and impression find you well.

namaste,
bodhi
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please visit me at:
http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.instagram.com/bodhismith
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