Sea of Love by Bodhi Smith

May 17, 2019

"sea of love" a new impression from bodhi smith
 
"we are made of the sea, of the stars, of the flowers, of the sand, of the breeze...that's why it is not correct to say we are in love, for we are in everything, we are love" ― bodhinku, sea of love
 
“this is true happiness: to have no ambition and to live far from men, not to need them. to have the stars above, flowers around your feet, the land to your left and the sea to your right, and to realize all of a sudden, that in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale.” ― nikos kazantzakis, zorba the greek
 
“if light is in your heart, you will find your way home" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
 
"when you are one with the special one, love each other so freely, let your love be a moving sea of flowers between the shores of your souls" ― bodhinku, sea of flowers
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MEANING
as my newest photographic impression, this is the pigeon point lighthouse near pescadero, ca about 30 miles north of santa cruz and an hour south of san francisco bay...the flowers in this impression were captured in april when the coastal spring wild flowers on the south side of the point are in full bloom...
 
my biggest influence for composing photographic compositions such as this, are visionary painters...and my vision here was profoundly influenced by the lily pond reflections of claude monet mixed with his impressions of poppy fields floating in the wind, but also vincent van gogh's love of flowers, nature, and the stars...all mixed with albert bierstadt's luminous use of contrast lighting...and i hope you enjoy and think about the accompanying quotes i have included here to compliment this dreamy composition...   
 
and, please remember too, this beautiful new impression of mine is a total lucid dream, a painted vision from inside my mind's eye, literally a fantasy, comprised of parts from a couple different images taken by me last year (with the star reflections in the water being augmented), and what you see before you here would not be possible to see with our own eyes in reality from this position leading up to the lighthouse...but by putting together images taken separately, what you see here is a bold composition that i created from a famous song's lyrics ringing through my head: "come with me, to the sea of love"...and this photographic impression here is the result of those feeling and thoughts and dreams flowing through me into my expressions...truly a "sea of love"...
 
hope you enjoy this sea of flowers, flowing down to the sea, under the starlight...to add extra meaning and feeling to this unique impression, listen to the song and lyrics of "sea of love" by phil phillips, it goes divinely perfect with this image, and hence the extra meaning in the name...and as i write these words, i cannot get the catchy tune out of my head...
 
come with me
my love
to the sea
the sea of love
i wanna tell you
how much
i love you
do you remember
when we met
that's the day
i knew you were mine
i wanna tell you
how much
i love you
come with me
my love
to the sea
the sea of love
i wanna tell you
how much
i love you ― phil phillips,  sea of love
 
and this impression is similar to a previous release of mine some months ago, my "dreamin light" impression of this scene, but with a different milky way orientation, along with the moon being present, and this one is in a square frame at a 1:1 ratio, instead of being a tall tall panoramic 1:3 like "dreaming light"...  
  
for the flowers part of this composition, i used both a 3-stop gnd filter in combination with a 6-stop nd filter...the nd filter was needed to soften the waves and water flow, and to let the flowers move a bit in the calm breeze to create a more fluid feeling for this sea of flowers leading down to the actual sea, and to also help oversaturate the colors and enhance the blues and yellows in the image, i used the gnd filter to help balance the composition in-camera and permit an easier transition for the star and moon components of the image to be merged into the sky...and truly this impression would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use...for this image i chose the 6-stop 1.8nd progrey genesis filter and the 3-stop 0.9gnd progrey genesis filter to help balance down the brighter sky with the flowers in the foreground and water/rocks/buildings in the middle ground ...
 
“in the light of love...
love is beauty, like an endlessly glowing field of flowers... 
love is the stars, shining through in a world of darkness...
love is the beacon, lighting the way to safe harbour...
love is, what light dreams about becoming...
dreaming light, love is my light” ― bodhinku, dreaming light
 
"like a simple little lighthouse, my true ideal is to just be...having no trace of seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace"  ― bodhinku, true light
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HISTORY 
the pigeon point lighthouse was built in 1871 to guide ships on the pacific coast of california. it is the tallest lighthouse on the west coast of the united states, and is still an active u.s. coast guard aid to navigation. pigeon point lighthouse is easily one of the most picturesque lighthouses on the pacific coast. the 115-foot (35 m), white masonry tower, resembles the typical new england structure and stands on a rocky promontory and has long been a landmark for ships approaching San Francisco Bay from the south. this headland, and hence the lighthouse, took its name from the ship, uss carrier pigeon, that wrecked here in 1853.

the lighthouse was originally equipped with a original first-order, 1000-watt fresnel lens capable of producing over 500,000 candlepower illumination. it was manufactured by the henry-lepaute company in paris, france and was first lit at pigeon point at sunset on november 15, 1872. the pigeon point lighthouse was assigned the unique characteristic of one white flash of light every ten seconds. in 1972, the u.s coast guard mounted a 24-inch aerobeacon on the front of the tower and officially retired the fresnel lens from regular duty. this replacement light outside the lens room, mounted on a small verandah at the top of the 100-foot tower, rotates with six beams, and is still an active aid to navigation.
 
although it is now no longer lit to celebrate special occasions, the first order fresnel lens was lit each year until 2011 in a ceremony commemorating the annual lighting of the lens, which usually occurred in mid-November (closest Saturday to November 15), the date of the original first lighting in 1872. the lens was removed from the top of the tower in november 2011, to now be displayed in the fog signal building, adjacent to the base of the lighthouse. the tower has been closed to tours since december 2001 because of the collapse of brickwork supporting outside access metal walkways on the top of the structure. cast iron was used rather than steel with the unfortunate result being that cast iron absorbs water rather than repelling it like steel, thus the walkways are severely rusted, as are the major binding ring bands at the base of the tower...
 
the entire lighthouse is in dire need of restoration soon (the state of california has been trying to get the necessary funding for a project, but progress is slow). without it, the historic pigeon point lighthouse might succumb to the brutal daily weathering effects of the ocean, to just become part of history and collapse, becoming one with the sea once again....here is a link for the campaign to save this beautiful lighthouse, if you would like to help: http://www.calparks.org/whatwedo/improving/pigeon-point ...
 
the restored lighthouse keepers' housing has, since the mid-1960s, also served as a youth hostel for travelers. the hostel is operated by hi-usa, a non profit organization devoted to helping the young gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling. the four three-bedroom houses north of the lighthouse have overnight lodging for groups and individual travelers of all ages. each house has male or female bunk rooms, as well as private room options. hostel guests from all over the world share kitchens and living spaces set up to facilitate intercultural exchange. an outdoor hot tub can be rented in the evenings. in 1972, the lighthouse was designated as a california historical landmark.

the flowers overjoyed with love
love is forever coming
just mine and sometimes, for her
she's the blossom blessed
desire is branded permanently
wanting takes over my thoughts
good memories endlessly run through my being
my person is attentive to the voices
that are sounded by the birds of the upland
it was she who dammed up the springs and wells
water just overflowed over the cliffs
the story is told
about the flowers overjoyed with love ― paulo kamealoha,  kaʻanoʻi 
 
“now if only i may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer" ― dag hammarskjold, markings
 
“god built lighthouses to see people through storms. then he built storms to remind people to find lighthouses” ― shannon adler
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AND LOTS OF LOTS OF MORE QUOTES
and i hope you enjoy and think about the accompanying quotes i have included here to compliment this dreamy composition...    
 
“the heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its flowering pearls too” ― vincent van gogh, letters to theo
 
“just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean, we can't separate ourselves from one another. we are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind” ― marianne williamson, a return to love
 
“the sea is everything. it covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. its breath is pure and healthy. it is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. the sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. it is nothing but love and emotion; it is the living infinite. ” ― jules verne, twenty thousand leagues under the sea
 
“may your love for me be like
the scent of the evening sea
drifting through 
a quiet field of flowers
so i do not have to run
or chase or fall
... to feel you
all i have to do 
 
“love is like the sea. it's a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore.” ― zora neale hurston, their eyes were watching god
 
“when you loved me, i gave you the whole sun and stars to play with. i gave you eternity in a single moment, strength of the mountains in one clasp of your arms, and the volume of all the seas in one impulse of your soul.” ― george bernard shaw, back to methuselah
 
"he always thought of the sea as 'la mar' which is what people call her in spanish when they love her. sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman. some of the younger fishermen, those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as 'el mar' which is masculine.they spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. but the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. the moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.” ― ernest hemingway, the old man and the sea
 
“had i told the sea
what I felt for you,
it would have left its shores,
its shells,
its fish,
and followed me.” ―  nizar qabbani, arabian love poems
 
“you belong among the wildflowers
you belong in a boat out at sea
you belong with your love on your arm
you belong somewhere you feel free” ― tom petty, conversations
 
“the sea loved the moon
when she was supposed to love the shore.
the moon knew
and hence made his intentions known. 
that she should love the shore
who was destined for her.
yet his protests seemed weak. 
and even when he pushed her towards the shore-
she always retreated back.
to want, to need, to love the moon
for all she's worth.
everyone said, it wasn't meant to happen.
yet, the tsunami rose that night for their union.” ― saiber, stardust and sheets
 
“here i love you and the horizon hides you in vain.
i love you still among these cold things.
sometimes my kisses go on those heavy vessels
that cross the sea towards no arrival.
i see myself forgotten like those old anchors.
the piers sadden when the afternoon moors there. 
my life grows tired, hungry to no purpose.
i love what I do not have. you are so far.
my loathing wrestles with the slow twilights.
but night comes. stars and flowers start to sing to me" ― pablo neruda, twenty love poems and a song of despair
 
“we have lingered in the chambers of the sea
by sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
till human voices wake us...and we drown.” ― t.s. eliot, the love song of j. alfred prufrock

“my bounty is as boundless as the sea,
my love as deep; the more I give to thee,
the more I have, for both are infinite.” ― william shakespeare, romeo and juliet
 
“love is thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky”  ― e.e. cummings
 
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.” ― mary oliver, a thousand mornings
 
“faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark” ― rabindranath tagore, gitanjali: song offerings 
 
“in your light i learn how to love. in your beauty, how to make poems. you dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes i do, and that sight becomes this art.” ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved
 
“although you appear in my dreams, your essence is pure consciousness. you are the fearless guardian of divine light. so come, return to the root of the root of your own soul.” ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved

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"when you jump in, love is the sea...and in a sea of love, sometimes the tides cannot seem to carry you close enough, and other times they slam you into the shore, so always be the flower on the wave, carrying your tidings under your petals, joyful to be floating no matter where the sea might take you" ― bodhinku, sea flower
 
"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 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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