"Life Is A Highway" by Bodhi Smith

Nov 25, 2022

"life is a highway" is my new impression and blog...
 
"standing in the middle of the road at the edge of midnight, i contemplate between heaven and earth, knowing where i've been and where i need to go. my vision is metaphysical, emotional, and spiritual. my feelings are full, my thoughts are crystal clear. this is my way. i know now with certainty this highway is my life. the road is my goal, not where it will take me...and i want to ride it all night long" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
"i stand herein
the middle of the road
looking off into infinity
 
i stand between
heaven and earth
directly before me
 
my life's highway
my body's on the road below
my mind's in the stars above
 
i take a step
aspirations floating around 
and around my spirit
i take another step"
 
"the road that leads to paradise is endless; go without head and feet, and you'll already be there" ― jalaluddin rumi, whispers of the beloved
 
"life's like the road that you travel on, when there's one day here and the next day gone. sometimes you bend and sometimes you stand. sometimes you turn your back to the wind. there's a world outside every darkened door where blues won't haunt you anymore, where the brave are free and lovers soar...life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long..." ― tom cochrane, life is a highway 
 
"all i wanted was to live a life where i could be me, and be okay with that. i had no need for material possessions, money or even close friends with me on my journey. i never understood people very well anyway, and they never seemed to understand me very well either. all i wanted was my art and the chance to be the creator of my own world, my own reality. i wanted the open road and new beginnings every day" ― charlotte eriksson, empty roads & broken bottles
 
"the road is life" ― jack kerouac, on the road
 
"roads were made for journeys not destinations" ― confucius
 
"nobody's going to do your life for you. and you have to do it no matter what is true. no matter what is hard. no matter what unjust, sad, sucky things befall you. self-pity is a dead-end road. you make the choice to drive down it. it's up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out" ― cheryl strayed, tiny beautiful things
 
"judge not of a road till it draws to the end" ― john boyle o'reilly, life
 
"when you don't know where you're going, you drive on the highway" ― roger hedden, bodies rest and motion
 
"a bend in the road is not the end of the road…unless you fail to make the turn" ― helen keller
 
"ultimately, all roads are connected to all other roads" ― deepak chopra, book of secrets
 
"it's your road, and yours alone. others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you" ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul 
 
"this highway is my life. the road is my goal, not where it will take me" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
here's a wonderful tune that's almost 25 years old, released way back in 1998...it carries a deeply profound meaning about leaving everything behind and heading down the road, getting lost on purpose, and finding happiness along the way. this song goes very nicely with the meaning of my impression and blog today ... "the way" by fastball  ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...
 
"they made up their minds and they started packing. they left before the sun came up that day, an exit to eternal summer slacking. but where were they going without ever knowing the way they drank up the wine and they got to talking, they now had more important things to say. and when the car broke down, they started walking. where were they going without ever knowing the way? "anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold. and it's always summer, they'll never get cold, they'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and gray. you can see their shadows wandering off somewhere. they won't make it home, but they really don't care. they wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today. their children woke up and they couldn't find them. they left before the sun came up that day. they just drove off and left it all behind them. but where were they going without ever knowing the way? anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold. and it's always summer, they'll never get cold, they'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and gray. you can see their shadows wandering off somewhere. they won't make it home, but they really don't care. they wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today...anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold. and it's always summer, they'll never get cold, they'll never get hungry, they'll never get old and gray. you can see their shadows wandering off somewhere. they won't make it home, but they really don't care. they wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today" ― fastball, the way 
 
"my impression here is a romantic version of a time that has long gone past, a time long lost we can no longer visit, a time when life was slower, quieter, and more meaningful...a time when the old west was wild, unpolluted, uncorrupted, and pure" ― bodhi, life is a highway
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MEANING
"clearly this is where my spiritual path meets the road" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
"highway" is defined by merriam-webster as: "a public way, especially a main direct road"
 
here is u.s. highway 163 headed through southern utah from mexican hat towards monument valley tribal park...one quite beautiful road to be lost and then found upon again...
 
i've been lost for many years now, seems like i've flying around the globe and i've been driving around the country looking for something of which i've no clue of exactly what it is...i'm an goofy oxymoron of clear uncertainty...i know what i want, but i have no clue what it really looks like...i feel it in my heart, but i cannot see it with my eyes...or maybe i've seen it, or maybe i do not know what it looks like...maybe it bit me already in the ass and i confused the attention for hurt, bitten by love, but scarred and scared to know it should not have been painful...
 
i've been lost in mind, body, and spirit for many years now...drifting down roads, driving on endlessly on highways, passing through beautiful landscapes that tell me something, but i'm not receptive to hearing what they have to say, the signs line the sides of the road, explaining the highway's dangers and cautions me of pitfalls just ahead...am i unable to see the message that takes my path into the background behind the curtain? what does it all mean? wtf? am i dense, blinded, or just plain unable to read the signs? 
 
i'm lost, yes, but still i know exactly where i stand...i contemplate the bigger meaning meant for me, though i'm not 100% sure it'll find me...
 
"some spiritual paths cannot be found without first getting lost" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
i'm lost, yes, in spite of all my self confidence and assureties of where i want be, but getting lost and not knowing exactly where the road leads is a good thing for me...
 
because despite and all my insecurities, tonight i'm at the forefront of understanding this frontier before me...the stars glow overhead illuminating the roadway lines and the desert creosote in their radiance creating a lovely nightscape that's breathtaking and surreal...standing in the middle of the road at the edge of midnight, i contemplate between heaven and earth, knowing where i've been and where i need to go... 
 
my confusion is unclouded and my brain fog burns away. my vision is metaphysical, emotional, and spiritual. my feelings are full, my thoughts are crystal clear. the stars, the pavement leading the way. this is my way. this is my life. i know now with certainty this highway is my life. the road is my goal, not where it will take me. i want to stay the course as long as i can...and i'm going to ride it all night long... 
 
this rocking tune originally from 1991 by canadian tom cochrane, and later covered by the rascal flatts in 2006 for the walt disney animated feature, cars) goes with my blog and impression today in a way no other could...perfect in matching lyrics, same title, parallel meaning...it's the perfect song to relate the deeper message of my image here today ..."life is a highway" by tom cochrane  ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ..."life is a highway" by rascal flatts from disney's cars (tom cochrane cover) ...
 
"life's like the road that you travel on, when there's one day here and the next day gone. sometimes you bend and sometimes you stand. sometimes you turn your back to the wind. there's a world outside every darkened door where blues won't haunt you anymore, where the brave are free and lovers soar. come ride with me to the distant shore. we won't hesitate to break down the garden gate. there's not much time left today...life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long...through all these cities and all these towns. it's in my blood and it's all around. i love you now like i loved you then. this is the road and these are the hands. from mozambique to those memphis nights. the khyber pass to vancouver's lights. knock me down and back up again. you're in my blood, i'm not a lonely man. there's no load i can't hold. a road so rough, this i know. i'll be there when the light comes in. just tell them we're survivors... life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long. life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long. there was a distance between you and i. a misunderstanding once, but now we look it in the eye, ooh, yeah. there ain't no load that i can't hold. a road so rough, this i know. i'll be there when the light comes in. tell them we're survivors...life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long...life is a highway, i wanna ride it all night long. if you're going my way, well, i wanna drive it all night long" ― tom cochrane, life is a highway 
 
"i'm standing here in the middle of the open road, limitless on where i can go, where i can head, where i feel i need to travel...this is my life, this is my highway" ― bodhi, life is a highway
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"life on the highway...the old two-lane american roadway disappearing off into the horizon on its way across the old wild west, such a romantic symbol of a day long gone past" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
this impression is how old u.s. highway 163 looked many years ago as it cruised across southern utah approaching monument valley on its way from mexican hat...long before instagram's malfluence and the exponential popularity of this spot because of movies like "forrest gump"...the natural scene has not really changed, but now there are more man-made things to convolute the scene with distractions--safety signs and road markers, roadside reflectors, and scenic pullouts...plus all the extra vehicles on the once-quiet-but-nevermore thoroughfare...cars, suv's and mini-vans filled with tourists dangerously pulling off the side of the highway to stand carelessly in the middle of the road just to get their cell phone pics and selfies, oblivious to perils of traffic on the road whizzing by at over 65 miles per hour...
 
my impression here is a romantic version of a time that has long gone past, a time long lost that we can no longer visit, a time when life was slower, quieter, and more meaningful...a time without all the thoughtless people...a time when the old west was wild, unpolluted and pure, and more known empirically through experience. a better time long before social media corrupted it...
 
here is another tune with a deeper meaning about life, the universe and everything to go along with my impression and blog today ..."let's go all the way" by sly fox ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"sitting with the thinker trying to work it out. it's a traffic jam of the brain makes you want to scream and shout. presidential party no-one wants to dance. looking for a new star to put you in a trance. let's go all the way, let's go all the way (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah), let's go all the way...working in a factory eight days a week. trying to make dollar down what a beat. cartoon capers happen in reality. rich man, poor man living in fantasy let's go all the way, let's go all the way (oh, oh, oh). let's go all the way...living in new york looks like an apple core (apple core). asphalt jungle, got to be a man-of-war. california dreamers sinking in the sand (the sand, the sand, the sand, the sand). the hollywood squares are living in disneyland...weeeeee ahhhh...let's go all the way (let's go all the way). let's go all the way, let's go all the way (ah, ah, ah) let's go all the way, let's go all the way, let's go all the way...we need heaven on earth today, we can make a better way. let's go all the way. go all the way. hey, let's go all the way...na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, yeah"― sly fox, let's go all the way 
 
"i'm lost, yes, in spite of all my self confidence and assureties of where i want be. but getting lost and not knowing exactly where the road leads is a good thing for me" ― bodhi, life is a highway
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
"there are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha
 
"for me, i’ve reached the part in my life where i need to embrace giving myself full permission to do what i want. this includes not only speaking my truth, feeling grateful for everything i have,and living in each moment, making each precious moment count...but also in wandering around more and experiencing what life has to offer. journeys offer transformation and a different perspective. and they can shake up the dusty parts of our souls and aid us in seeing the bigger picture. they can inspire us and help us to move towards something that may be missing. we often spend a lifetime playing the rol​e​s that we are taught we must, ignoring what we wish. and then the time comes to expand horizons and it is an offer that we can no longer ignore. a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, as lao tze says. or as the late anthony bourdain says: travel isn’t always pretty. it isn’t always comfortable. sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. but that’s okay. the journey changes you; it should change you. it leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. you take something with you. hopefully, you leave something good behind" ― c. ara campbell, what anthony bourdain taught me
 
"perhaps you are not yet where you feel you should be...but from one dreamer to another, a careful word of advice: you could reach every last one of your goals and still find yourself unfulfilled at the finishing line...the true essence of life exists in the in-between. it is in the striving, that your excellence is exposed to the world. it is in the setbacks, that the strength of your spirit is learned. there lies a delicate balance, because in the unfinished dream lies the full and burning heart of life...it is only a spell of the mind, an artful deception, that you might find fulfillment in fortune, fame, perfection or power. but, real fulfilling life is not lived here. the real fulfillment exists in the distance you still have left to travel. that is where the true magic happens" ― beau taplin (with some additions by bodhi), the ascent
 
"it's been a long, hard road, but i've finally found the closure i need to move on. i've learned to accept that my all is not always going to be enough and love is neither owned nor earned; it either is or it's not. i gave you the world, but you wanted the stars" ― beau taplin, worlds of you
 
"roads were made for journeys not destinations" ― confucius
 
"the road you can talk about is not the road you can walk on" ― lao tzu, tao te ching 
 
"people take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost" ― dalai lama xiv, the art of happiness  
  
"the various religions are like different roads converging on the same point. what difference does it make if we follow different routes, provided we arrive at the same destination?" ― mohandas mahatma gandhi 
 
"normality is a paved road: it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo
 
"that's why i have to go back
to so many places
there to find myself
and constantly examine myself
with no witness but the stars
and then whistle with joy,
ambling over rocks and clods of earth,
with no task but to live,
with no family but the road" 
― pablo neruda   
 
"when you are moving toward an objective, it is very important to pay attention to the road. it is the road that teaches us the best way to get there, and the road enriches us as we walk its length" ― paulo coelho, eleven minutes 
 
"why is love more important than faith? because faith is merely the road that leads us to the greater love" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist
 
"the two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter" ― paulo coelho, veronika decides to die
 
"if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t find a road to take you there" ― jeff brown, soulshaping
 
"each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. if the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that as well" ― maya angelou
 
"the deepest solitude is a road right out of itself" ― c.s. lewis, the chronicles of narnia
   
"life is not always perfect. like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty" ― amit ray, the voice of a mountain bird
 
"failure is a bend in the road, not the end of the road. learn from failure and keep moving forward" ― roy t. bennett, the light in the heart
 
"once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy" ― sri nisargadatta maharaj
 
"life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, wow! what a ride!" ― hunter s. thompson, the proud highway
 
"the hardest thing about the road not taken is that you never know where it might have led" ― lisa wingate, a month of summer
 
"the road to happiness is always under construction. but no worries, my jeep has four wheel drive. let’s rock this" ― celia kyle, maya: wisdom from the queen
 
"to move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
to gain all while you give,
to roam the roads of lands remote,
to travel is to live"
― hans christin anderson, the fairy tale of my life
 
"life is one big road with lots of signs. so when you're riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. wake up and live" ― bob marley
 
"there’s no use in talking to people who have a home, they have no idea what it's like to seek safety in other people, for home to be wherever you lay your head....i was always an unusual girl, my mother told me that i had a chameleon soul. no moral compass pointing me due north, no fixed personality. just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide as wavering as the ocean. and if i said that i didn't plan for it to turn out this way, i’d be lying--because i was born to be the other woman. i belonged to no one, who belonged to everyone, who had nothing, who wanted everything with a fire for every experience and an obsession for freedom that terrified me to the point that i couldn’t even talk about, and pushed me to a nomadic point of madness that both dazzled and dizzied me....every night i used to pray that i’d find my people--and finally i did--on the open road. we have nothing to lose, nothing to gain. nothing we desired anymore, except to make our lives into a work of art" ― lana del rey
 
"doing as others told me, i was blind. coming when others called me, i was lost. then i left everyone, myself as well. then i found everyone, myself as well" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
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ABOUT THIS IMPRESSION
"i'm lost, yes, but still i know exactly where i stand...i contemplate the bigger meaning meant for me, though i'm not 100% sure it'll find me" ― bodhi, life is a highway
 
this impression was captured on u.s. highway 163 just down the hill from "gump point" heading southward towards the famous skyline of monument valley...captured in two separate exposures with the first one being of the stars in the wee hours of the morning at 3:33am mst on august 1st, 2022 (f/2.8@70mm for 11 secs, iso-3200)...and the second one being 2.5 hrs later of the roadway in the morning just after a rainshower a little before the sunrise at 6:20am mst on august 1st, 2022 (f/8@70mm for 11 secs, iso-64)...
 
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...
 
to get the effects and balance i was looking for in the roadway exposure of this composition (f/8@70mm for 11 secs, iso-64), i used two progreyusa filters along with the progrey g-120z antarctic magnetic holder to secure these filters to my nikon d850 with a nikon nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens ... 
 
first, a 1.8nd progrey antarctica filter to bring the light in the image down 6 stops and permit for the long 11 second exposure which naturally saturates all the red, green, and blue (rgb) colors in the image (i would not have been able to use this long exposure and filter if the wind was blowing, because the creosote and sage brush in the image would be blurred severely)...
 
combined with the second filter, 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 much brighter light in the sky, the pre-dawn light, an extra three stops and help permit details in the shadows of the foreground amongst the shrubs to come out better in the exposure... 
 
for the separate exposure of the stars (f/2.8@70mm for 11 secs, iso-3200), no filters were necessary in the star exposure, so none were used...
 
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 induro phq3 series 5-way panhead with an induro (now benro) stealth carbon fiber tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you?" ― bodhi, blessed 
 
"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" ― bodhi, if 
 
"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" ― bodhi, into my photo
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary " ― bodhi, my diary
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty, content to be completely incomplete. stop the rush. slow down time. breathe and notice. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this higher 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!" ― bodhi, my world
 
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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please visit me at:

http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi.Impressions

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