Old Soul by Bodhi Smith

Oct 04, 2019

"old soul" a new impression from bodhi smith...

"what is of value, meaning, and wisdom to the old soul, seems to be simple nonsense to the busy modern one" ― bodhinku, old soul

“my soul, don't fight being alone now...find yourself and hide. but what can stay hidden? love's secret is always lifting its head out from under the covers, "here i am!”― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi

“sometimes i get up at dawn, and even my soul is wet" ― pablo neruda, 100 love sonnets

"i feel like such an old soul, out of touch with all this changing technology creating unconnected, self-centered noises rushing about, all around me, surrounding me, cutting off my breathing, disconnecting me from living...i want quiet and simplicity, minimalism in reality...i just want to see things, really see them, slow down life and make sense of my reason for being here, which will never be found on a touch screen..." ― bodhinku, wanting minimalism

here is an extremely insightful and beautifully worded article about old souls, written by c. ara campbell, an old soul hersel,f as well as a visionary writer, acclaimed author, and founder of the goddess circle: https://thegoddesscircle.net/are-you-an-old-soul/

btw, here is an old soul tune, one of my favorite orchestral pieces, to listen and play while you read these quotes, look and my impression, and contemplate my blog you see here before you.... "rhapsody in blue" by american composer, george gershwin

"old souls never quite fit in...they have a feeling about them that they’ve always been old. when others were obsessing about the latest trendy thing, they were wandering around thinking of the deeper meaning of life....they can have a strong sense of honor and can’t usually be bought by material possessions as they see beyond their trivial value....they are generally very different from a young age and have carried that marching to the beat of their own drum into adulthood. they have always had an inherent feeling of differing greatly from those surrounding them, which can at times lead them down a solitary path of existence....they know that they need to do something on this planet and they’re here for a reason" ― c. ara campbell, are you an old soul

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MEANING

this is purely a minimalist image, a metaphor of a singularity contrasting within a modern world of so much busy noise...this is indicative of an old soul, crying for simplicity while being caught up in a whirlwind of bustle...but this old soul does not care about being passed over by the rushing current, as long as he can be left alone, to just be and pursue his meaning of life...

this solitary boulder is an old soul, his shell is weathered and cracked, he spends his days alone, but he is not lonely for he has the sun to warm him all day, and the stars to accompany him all night, and the waves are forever wrapping around him, blanketing him and caressing him with their endless motion...the boulder has his faith that they will always be there for him, even as he tends to do his own thing and discover his purpose in this world...

i think he is at his best when there is no one around but his sun, or the stars, and his waves...he is happiest with this small group he has chosen, as they have chose him, they trust each other and have faith in the higher love of things...it is when those awful crowds of tourists come invading his home by the sea to walk all over him, just to take his picture, and then walk all over him, use him only to get what they want, and they try to deface him, or chip a piece of his magic off, he is truly lonely in the crowd, lost from his true purpose, which is to just be, and amaze...not amuse, all those tourists who want their selfie standing atop him in his home by the sea...so amidst the crowds, he longs to be alone with only his chosen few in his world....

i am excited to be returning to this location in mid-february, to honor and respect this old soul again as best i can, when i visit the south island of new zealand again for a couple weeks

"old souls need extensive “me” time. they need a lot of alone time, not because they hate or don’t need people, but because there is a sacred sanctuary found in the stillness of their own company that can be found nowhere else...a good portion of old souls are also introverts, so being out in a crowd of people can fill them with anxiety and dread....this isn’t a matter of being antisocial, for old souls time has an entirely different meaning to them and confining them into activities and into doing things they don’t want to do is torment to them. they see any waste of their precious minutes as a crime....however this can lead to a lot of loneliness for the old soul. even though they crave a lot of solitary time, when they finally pop their head up, they wonder where everyone went. this can lead to a spiral of being misunderstood, becoming more unseen, and further take them into being in their own heads. old souls keep a small and intimate group that they are closest too even though they are generally pleasant to most people. they need to keep up with relationships and make sure they don’t become disconnected as it can be too easy for them to wander off in pursuit of thoughts and ideas and leave friends behind." ― c. ara campbell, are you an old soul?

"i do not want to be noticed, or rich, or popular, or even be with the in-crowd...so i do not need my photography to be understood or admired, i just want it to be felt..." ― bodhinku, my photography

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STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE

"a solitary boulder seems to be all alone at the ocean's edge on a beach...he is there by choice, he is an old soul, his shell is weathered and cracked, he spends his days alone, but he is not lonely for he has the sun to warm him all day, and the stars to accompany him all night, and the waves are forever wrapping around him, blanketing him and caressing him with their endless motion....the boulder has his faith that they will always be there for him, with him, so he is truly never alone" ― bodhinku, his choice

the moeraki boulders are scattered along koekohe beach on eastern shore on the south island of new zealand,..there are more than fifty strangely spherical boulders of different sizes, some in clusters, others lying separate. the biggest ones are over six feet in diameter, and weigh seven tons...so, although they look like bowling balls, there's no shifting them. even the sea does not move them anymore. many of them are perfectly spherical with large cracks in them called “septaria”, which radiate from the hollow core and are filled with yellow or brown calcite, dolomite, and quartz...

whether half concealed by the sand, or almost fully exposed, it's clear from their scaly surface that they're all formed the same way. the moeraki boulders are concretions, which as the name suggests are made of sedimentary particles stuck together, hard and compact, formed layer by layer like a pearl over the course of four million years. they formed on the seabed around 60 million years ago, and since the land has risen from the sea, the waves have eroded the soft mudstone surrounding the bounders in the cliffs above the beach, exposing and releasing the boulders onto the beach. you can see more still up there, partially exposed, that will eventually fall to join the others. don't hold your breath waiting, though.

and unfortunately for the boulders, ever since there have been tourists, people have been coming here to marvel at the stones, jump from one to another, and drape themselves photogenically across them. unwittingly and carelessly damaging them at times...and of course today the combination of a camera and social media unfortunately makes the lure irresistible of getting a picture to show off "look-at-me" to the world...with the back drop of the sea, these geological oddities have become a majorly popular photo stop on the south island of new zealand.

when the moeraki boulders were first discovered in the 19th Century by europeans, many more boulders existed on the beach until people took them home as souvenirs...it is illegal to take a moeraki boulder today (although, i’d like to see you try and lift one) and some of the boulders that used to be on the beach are now in the otago museum in dunedin...

legend has it through the maori (aborigines of new zealand), that the boulders represented the remains eel, kumara and food baskets that washed up on the shores after the legendary waka araiteuru (canoe), wrecked off the nearby shores of shag point (matakaea) after bringing ngai tahu's ancestors from hawaii.

some theorize that the moeraki Boulders are alien eggs and the cracked boulders are eggs that have already hatched (and now of course they walk among us)

more boulders around new zealand like this exist, such as the katiki boulders about 20km south of moeraki and the koutu boulders in hokianga on the north island

"real loneliness never happens to me when i am alone in a secluded place, it always seems to happen when i am in a crowded place with too many other people around" ― bodhinku, real loneliness

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MORE MEANINGFUL QUOTES

“the wise old soul makes an island of himself that no flood can overwhelm.” ― gautama buddha

"how blissful it is, for one who has nothing. attainers-of-wisdom are people with nothing. see him suffering, one who has something, a person bound in mind with people" ― gautama buddha

"a heavy burden for the old soul is that they are quite often misunderstood and unheard. they feel they have a wealth of knowledge and insight to offer from a very young age and are often unseen in their views. this deepens their feelings of not belonging. this can lead to them being very mixed up about how to express these gifts into being. when their value is unseen, this can be breeding grounds for feelings of unworthiness. they take criticism very seriously and it feeds the insecurity that rises within them naturally. this is a huge struggle for them as they need to come to a place of balance on being here to offer something amazing to the world and moving past the unworthiness to make that happen....old souls often have a hard time finding “home” not really sure where or if they belong anywhere. one of the lessons for them is to develop that sense of home within, and carry it with them" ― c. ara campbell, are you an old soul?

"old souls feel spirit deep...they are very sensitive and can be prone to empathetic tendencies. this can lead them to be seen as “too serious” while they do have a goofy, fun side sometimes it is reserved for those that really “get” them. when they love they do so with all of their being which can be hard for some to take....old souls take rejection especially hard and personally....this deep sense of feeling extends to the natural world and many old souls feel connected to it and feel when it or animals are hurting. violence can be hard for them to watch and even to think about. when they are young they can assign feelings to everything even plants and dolls" ― c. ara campbell, are you an old soul?

"this quiet, ongoing solitude of mine is how i say i miss you without admitting it out loud" ― beau taplin

"and the verse falls to the old soul, like dew to the pasture― pablo neruda, the book of questions

"solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life. therefore, blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge...if you are never alone, you cannot know yourself” ― paulo coelho

"the simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only wise old souls can see them” ― paulo coelho, the alchemist

“you are alone and you are unique. you never were before, you never will be again. you are beautiful! accept it, and whatsoever happens, allow it to happen and pass through it." ― osho, awareness: the key to living in balance

“and that is the essence of wisdom—to be in harmony with nature, with the natural rhythm of the universe. and whenever you are in harmony with the natural rhythm of the universe, you are a poet, you are an artist, you are a musician, you are a dancer" ― osho, creativity - unleashing the forces within

"where have all the old souls gone? everything is public now, potentially: one's thoughts, one's photos, one's movements, one's purchases. there is no privacy and apparently little desire for it in a world devoted to non-stop use of social media. every minute, every second, has to be spent with one's device clutched in one's hand. those trapped in this virtual world are always alone, never able to concentrate and appreciate in their own way, silently. they have given up, to a great extent, the amenities and achievements of civilization: solitude and leisure, the sanction to be oneself, truly absorbed, whether in contemplating a work of art, a scientific theory, a sunset, or the face of one's beloved"― oliver sacks, seeing voices

"loneliness is something i've never been bothered with because i've always had this terrible itch for solitude...funny though, it's being at a party, or at a stadium full of people cheering for something, that I might feel loneliness. i'll quote ibsen, "the strongest people are the most alone." ― charles bukowski, factotum

"isolation is the gift. all the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. and, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. and it will be better than anything else you can imagine. if you're going to try, go all the way. there is no other feeling like that. you will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. you will ride life straight to perfect laughter. it's the only good fight there is” ― charles bukowski, factotum

“my old soul is from elsewhere, i'm sure of that, and i intend to end up there”― jalaluddin rumi, poems of ecstasy and longing

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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"for every old soul, there is another one, their complementary match, perfectly fitting, always there in thought, even if not in form...so that no matter what separates them, either time or space, neither old soul is ever alone" ― bodhinku, not alone

this is single frame image composition ...and since it is an ultra long exposure time at the shores edge with waves, a stable and sturdy tripod was an absolute necessity in order to keep the image sharp in the places i wanted sharpness (i use selective focus on most of my images, similar to the way our eyes see things)...for this i used a dolica 70" carbon fiber tripod, because it is sturdy, tall, and perfectly compact for travel to remote places on the planet such as this beach in new zealand....for me, this shot would never have been possible without my friends daniel and april at dolica tripods.

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...in the case with this composition, i used three filters to get the effects and balance i was looking for...so, i used the 3.0nd progrey genesis filter (and holder) to slow down the exposure 10 stops and naturally saturate all the blues and oranges more....plus in combination with the 0.6gnd progrey genesis filter (the sandy ripples were much brighter than the middleground with the boulder) and the 1.2gnd progrey genesis filter to bring down the brighter sky 4 stops and balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it, as the sky was considerably brighter than the foreground and middleground...about 4 stops brighter than the rest of the darker parts 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 ultra long exposure would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...

"contemplate without thinking. stop the world. slow down everything. shut off the noise. breathe in. breathe out. 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 within your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith. this is my world. awaken." ― bodhinku, my world

above all else as always, i hope this message and image find you well.

namaste,
bodhi

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