Take The Time by Bodhi Smith

Mar 12, 2021

"take the time" a brand new impression and blog from me...
 
this image and blog is dedicated to a huge inspiration in my life, a great soul who sadly passed away this week on march 5th after a 7-month bout with cancer...michael stanley, rest in peace...
 
"it's your world, pay attention" ― michael stanley 
  
"the in-between moments are equally significant. you will never get a refund on time. understand in the passing of time leading up to important milestones, you need to slow down and appreciate that time spent. remember all those moments too, because it's in these lesser times when life is really more, it's during the in-between times when life truly happens...take the time to live every second of this precious life, take the time to make each moment count" ― bodhinku, take the time
 
"this mill takes the time to appreciate the river and everything it does for it in the surrounding the forest...the mill knows it cannot exist without the river, and appreciates it for it's daily flow of water...likewise the river knows it has less purpose without the mill, and is grateful for giving it life....this is a powerful metaphor, can't you see it?" ― bodhinku, take the time   
     
"your own positive future begins in this moment, at this time. all you have is right now. every goal is possible from here...there is a time to live and a time to die, but never is there time to reject the moment. take the time to live" ― lao tzu, tao te ching  
   
"all eternity is in the moment" ― mary oliver   
 
"breathe. let go. take the time to remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure...doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment" ― oprah winfrey
 
"take the time 
to be, 
alive, 
 
this song is from the 1980s, never before has there perhaps been such a perfect song for both the message of my impression and the meaning of our times in life right now...and it's also my favorite tune from a favorite artist and person of mine from my college days in ohio...and unless you are from cleveland or northeast ohio, you have probably never heard this tune or even the artist before, which is regrettable, as i never understood why the michael stanley band never got more acclaim or was better know nationally, or even in the world...a true blue collar rock band from the city with the rock and roll hall of fame, their hometown where they are legends...and they sing in a style in the mold of bruce springsteen and bob seger & the silver bullet band, yet better, with more meaningful lyrics and soulful guitar, drum, keyboard, and saxophone. this song is the perfect accompaniment to my blog with the same title as my impression, and his words are close to perfect from the opening lines to the closing refrain, they are so powerful and meaningful in the times we find ourselves now with covid19..."take the time" by the michael stanley band ... (just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)...
 
"these are strange days we live in, the nights get even worse. the poets died at midnight in a new york city hearse, and the news just makes you crazy, it has for so long. and the streets are full of fear tonight coming on strong...you know, they're holed-up in atlanta, broke down in l.a. they went and sold out detroit, they put half the town away. from the west texas border to the carolina shore, you can see it in the faces, there's gotta be something more...what we gotta do, we gotta take the time to love someone, take the time to make amends. take the time to make a stand, take the time for your friends. 'cause you can't roll your own forever, somewhere down the line, you're gonna see that's all they give you, so you might as well take the time...you know, they're laid off in ohio, the heartland's under strain. they're running scared in fla, and hiding out in maine. all the sons of true believers and the daughters of dreamers. it can shake you when you find out, it ain't just what it seems...we gotta, take the time to love someone, take the time to make amends. take the time to make a stand, take the time for your friends. 'cause you can't roll your own forever, somewhere down the line, you're gonna see that's all they give you, so you might as well take the time...now is the hour, tomorrow might be too late. you gotta grab the moment, you just can't hesitate. 'cause you know that it's the children gonna pay for it all. like the man said: 'a hard rain's gonna fall'...what we gotta do, we gotta take the time to love someone, take the time to make amends. take the time to make a stand, take the time for your friends. 'cause you can't roll your own forever, somewhere down the line, oh on down the line you're gonna see that's all they give you, so you might as well take the time...take the time, take the time, take the time..." ― michael stanley band, take the time   
 
"with every breath that we take, sometimes we forget how lucky we are to just be alive...everything else is secondary...sometimes we must stop in the middle of everything and just breathe, and be thankful for that breath of life. wrap our heads around the understanding that our health is all that really matters, sometimes we all need to be reminded and truly remember that living is a gift and should be cherished" ― bodhinku, how lucky we are
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MEANING
"each and every moment is temporary. cherish the moments that take your breath away, live them to the fullest, for they will not last. and do not shutter away the difficult moments, reflect and learn from them, get through them. they are not forever, they too will pass... good or bad, every moment is precious. and every breath is priceless, because they remind us we are living...always be sure to cherish each breath, and make each moment count" ― bodhinku, each moment

along with being the name of the favorite song of mine from the michael stanley band, for me this was an easy name to give to my impression you see here for other reasons too...
 
this is a very long exposure of 11 mins and 11 seconds shot at f/22, so in order to create such a photograph, you need to literally take the time to plan for this scene correctly, then take the time to scout it out. then, take the time to set things up correctly with perfect positioning, lighting, and equipment. then after you open the camera shutter, you need to be patient and wait for what is about to happen, wait for the picture to unfold and happen through the lens of your camera. and as the time passes, absorb the scene, take in what you see more profoundly...and everything before you which you see will have a deeper meaning...if you just take the time...
 
"it is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning" ― vincent van gogh
 
however, my meaning here of course is so much deeper than just that...for in that passage of time, you must take the time to enjoy the passing of time...
 
do not let the passing of time be wait time, or less meaningful time or just be a bridge between highlights in your life...because "there are no ordinary moments"― dan millman, way of the peaceful warrior...take the time to enjoy the moments in between, all the moments  
 
for the in-between moments are equally significant. you will never get a refund on time. understand in the passing of time leading up to important milestones, you need to slow down and appreciate that time spent. remember all those moments too, because it's in these lesser times when life is really more, it's during the in-between times when life truly happens...so take the time to live every second of this precious life, take the time to make each moment count...
 
can't you see? this mill takes the time to appreciate the river and everything it does for it and the surrounding forest...the mill knows it cannot exist without the river, and appreciates it for it's reliable flow...likewise the river knows it has less purpose without the mill, and is grateful for giving it life....this is a powerful metaphor, can't you see it?  
 
so additionally, each of us need to take the time to appreciate what you see before you, the beauty that surrounds you, see everything by slowing down time and appreciating all the small passing moments...i lived a lifetime in the 11minutes of this exposure, time just did not pass me by...and the more i fill my life up with slowing down life, like i do with my exposures, the more i live, the more i see, the more i experience. i live in the moment as much as possible, not looking for the next to happen. i take the time to appreciate all the blessings of the life i get to live, and live now, here in this moment, because it will all be gone so soon, sometimes sooner than any of us ever expect unfortunately.
 
take the time to truly appreciate your mom and dad as we all get older every day, and year . appreciate all your friends and family, and fur babies (and be deeply thankful if they are all still alive)...be grateful for your favorite auntie, and cousins and brothers and sisters, best friends, ex-lovers, pets and children...deeply value and appreciate all of them, not just your blood relatives...kiss, hug, and hold them, love and cherish the moments you have, each of them, take none for granted, ever...take the time for each one and each moment...
 
"time has no opposite. all we have is our time, and then nothing, the ending...take the time to appreciate this time we have, be an eternal moment, inside the outside. you see, soon in one moment's time, there will be no more time" ― bodhinku, time
 
as i mentioned earlier above, one of my favorite musicians just passed away a few days ago at the young age of 72. he was not as famous as most, but was still a legend, hero, and role model for me. he will be missed, but lives on in my heart and in the hearts of others with the music and example of life he gave to us all...
 
michael stanley just died. and for so many of us, that is a huge loss. i'm so sad, and full of remorse, lamenting his passing. i seldom cry, but i listened to my favorite tunes of his these past few days, and my eyes have welled up with tears repetitively...
 
but up until his final moments, he was not sad. he had no allusions that a long life was owed to him. he lived and gave it all he could. giving us wonderful music, and also great ways of looking at life and all the changes we all go through. good times and hard luck go hand and hand. enemies and loved ones are apart of the same coin...life and death are always paired...life is a yin and yang of opposites...
 
but the one thing in life, the universe, and everything which is constant, is time. and we must take the time to appreciate life, at every cost. "take the time to love someone, take the time to make amends. take the time to make a stand, take the time for your friends"... and michael stanley's last words in this world to everybody else still living were: "it's your world, pay attention"...great fucking perfect last words, and words we all need to take the time to abide by...michael, you will be missed, dearly by your family, loved ones, and the millions of people whose lives you influenced and touched...and for my life and to my world, i will pay attention...
 
"reach out while still holding on
simultaneously embrace life while letting go...
be wild but still innocent,
become drunk without drinking,
keep sharp focus when life is blurred...
stay strong even in weakness,
bind strength to all your fears,
and become courageously scared...
reflect the dark in your abyss
and become insanely calm...
maintain faith in your disbelief,
be completely incomplete,
and significant in insignificance...  
take the time to have no ending,
its okay to be, just let it be... 
be clearly confused, 
be an eternal moment
inside the outside..." ― bodhinku, oxymoron
     
and here is another beyond beautiful song from michael stanley, another one of my favorites and easily his most popular tune with the masses. and for me i have known every word for over thirty years, and it's totally beyond impossible for me to ever listen to this song without singing along to the lyrics...it's a love song with heartbreak and relationship angst that is edgy and true. just as in life, questions for which there are no answers, even after we have experienced it, there still are no answers... "lover" by the michael stanley band ... i sound old, but they just do not make bluesy heartbreak rock love songs like this anymore...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...  

"well the glow from the bars and a thousand stars light the cold ohio night. and the turnpike's slick, the snow's as thick as thieves. since your call came through, there ain't nothing new but the radio and the headlights, and the news at the top of the hour, that no one really believes, do they, lover? what you want to go and do that for, lover?? why'd you want to tear it apart, lover?? you say you got your reasons, but i need more, lover... give me back my heart, give it back, girl....when the cold comes to stay it takes your breath away and it makes the hours crawl. and it feels to me like i've been driving forever. then your words return, the whole place burns and i just don't know where to begin. anybody else, anybody else but him, could you, lover?? what you want to go and do that for, lover?? why'd you want to tear it apart, lover?? you say you got your reasons, but i need more, lover... give me back my heart, give it back, girl....and somewhere ahead tonight, with fine wine and candlelight he's gonna turn your head around. girl what you want me to do???  if i leave this thing all up to you, i'm gonna lose the best thing i've found, i can see what's going down....so i talk to the night, i head for the light, try and hold it on the road. thank god for the man who put the white lines on the highway...but baby, what you gonna do when the fire is through, and you find he's out looking for somebody new?? 'cause you did everything that he wanted you to do and now you're all alone and crying, aren't you lover?? what you want to go and do that for, lover? why'd you want to tear it apart, lover !? you say you got your reasons, but i need more, lover... give me back my heart, give it back, girl" ―michael stanley band, lover 
 
"maybe it is true that life is a bummer right now...but look at what you have right now, not what you do not have...you are alive, you are breathing...so breathe in, and breathe out, and deeply enjoy those breaths, and be thankful you have what many people did not get to wake up and experience today: life and living!" ― bodhinku, enjoy every breath
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MORE BODHIKU QUOTES
and now here are a few more quotes from bodhinku from past blogs to help add to the deeper meaning of this blog today...
 
"at this moment in time, my only problem is that i'm still me, but my biggest blessing is that i'm still me" ― bodhinku, i'm still me
 
"i have no expectations. i look forward to only my next breath...i know my place. i know my path. i love my journey. i am no longer sleepwalking through life. i am awakened. i see. i love. i trust. i understand. i smile. i live. i believe. i am amazed. i am at peace. and i am forever alive in my next breath" ― bodhinku, my next breath
 
"when i am with her, i want to feel each moment we have together as if it's simultaneously our last and our first" ― bodhinku, last and first
 
"it's better to have loved and lost in the moment, than never to have the moment at
 
"it's okay to not know what to do next. just empower yourself with the hope of taking a new step forward, take another deep breath and and take that step not knowing, be astonished with your life and where it will lead you, cherish each breath as it might be your last...and never forget you're still blessed to be alive and breathing in this beautiful world" ― bodhinku, when in the chill
 
"yesterday is nothing but today's memory... and tomorrow is nothing but today's dream...so live today like nothing else matters" ― bodhinku, live today
 
"and reflecting back on this moment in time, i am really happy to be able to share this picture with so many who would never get to witness such a scene. and in doing so, you can reflect that i actually existed at this time, that i was here at this place, and that i was truly alive in this moment's beautiful reflection..." ― bodhinku, a moment's reflection 
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"take the time to not just live in the moment, but live in all the moments" ― bodhinku, all the moments  
 
pictured here is the grist mill alongside cedar creek in southwestern washington...this spot was not planned as a shooting location originally during my trip, but i had been having a difficult time on this trip in february with the weather. dealing with deep snow that was unnatural and rare in the area, and ice storms that shut down roads and the city of portland, rain on the coast, mountains up in the clouds, mountain roads gated off because of snow, trails closed because of conditions or covid or recent fires...
 
but i was truly having fun and managing everything...still, i kept looking for ideas and suggestions of places to go see that might be beautiful in nw oregon/sw washington...and in a message from a friend's father, kenneth reifman, he suggested checking out grist mill...and you see the results...so the deepest thanks to mr. reifman, this picture would not have been possible without you!
 
on the day i shot grist mill, it was rainy and chilly, with some snow still on the ground (and you can see it on the roof of the mill in my shot)...the rain was coming down pretty hard, which makes it challenging to take any pictures with a camera, let alone long exposures with extra neutral density filters on the lens to slow down and balance the light...
 
luckily, this location sort of comes with its own protection for rain: in the form of a covered bridge across cedar creek in front of the mill...without the covered bridge, there would have been no way possible that i could have managed this image in the hard rain during the 671 seconds of this exposure...
 
but getting my camera positioned where i wanted it would prove to be challenging, and creative (using my fitted ballcap as an extra rain guard on top of my camera, wide angle lens, and my progrey filter holder and progrey nd filters) and with its final placement placing it higher up balanced on the railing above, a bit precarious to a fall into the fast flowing river 30ft (10m) below...
 
as my camera took its long exposures, i took the time to experience this place, and explore its nuances...enjoying the tranquility of all these passing moments, taking it all in, each moment at a time...
 
i had this place entirely to myself all afternoon...so peaceful, just the sound of the creek flowing its course as it has for thousands of years, oblivious to all else, silencing all the noise of the crazy world...taking me away from me...
 
"there needs to be a silence, a time to share the breath of the same air, to permit a period of reflection in order to truly connect with other souls. we need to carry our connections in our hearts, not in our hands or in our words...silence needs to be the connection, not the disconnection..." ― bodhinku, connecting through silence   
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
continuing with my dedication to michael stanley,  here is another favorite song of mine from msb, although it does not really fit into the meaning of my blog much today, still i love these lyrics, especially "seventeen, caught in between what i was and what i wanted to be...that first time love feels real, it can never come your way again, somewhere in the night"...."somewhere in the night" by the michael stanley band ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection) ...

"back in the summer of sixty-five, i was feeling more dead than alive. i was holding on to the radio, you know it really helped me get by. and, down the street she moved to the beat, just an angel in her daddy's car. and through my life she cut like a knife, and i'm still walking around with the scars, somewhere in the night, she's reaching out and touching me (somewhere in the night). somewhere in the night, and i just can't let it go somewhere in the night...ooh, ooh in the night, yeah...seventeen, caught in between what i was and what i wanted to be. i was listening to no one, and nobody was listening to me. then she said, oh baby i know how you feel, and what you need is more than a friend. you know that the first time that love feels real, it can never come your way again...somewhere in the night, she's reaching out and touching me (somewhere in the night). somewhere in the night, and i just can't let it go...and after all my friends think i'm crazy, living in the past. but all you get to keep are the memories, you gotta make the good ones last...somewhere in the night, she's reaching out and touching me (somewhere in the night). somewhere in the night, and i just can't let it go" ― michael stanley band, somewhere in the night   
 
"life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away" ― vicki corona, tahitian choreographies  
  
"the present moment dies every moment to become the past, it's reborn every moment into the future. all experience is now. now never ends" ― deepak chopra, buddha
 
"the past is already gone, the future is not yet here. there's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha
 
"there comes a moment when you realize what matters the most in your life. let that moment be now and that matter be your love and kindness" ― mohandas mahatma gandhi    
 
 "i know who i am, and i love me. sometimes the things that never were, pull at us, because they feel incomplete, but maybe they are imperfectly perfect as they are, exactly the way they were always meant to be. we can be ourselves. we are alive. we are this moment" ― c. ara campbell 
 
"there are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. but they are there for a reason. only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there" ― paulo coelho, the fifth mountain
  
"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   
 
"here, start living moment to moment totally and intensely, joyfully and playfully...and you will see that nothing goes out of control; that your intelligence becomes sharper; that you become younger; that your love becomes deeper. and when you go out into the world, wherever you go, spread life, playfulness, joy, as far away as possible, to every nook and corner of the earth" ― osho, love, freedom, aloneness
 
"there are no ordinary moments" ― dan millman, way of the peaceful warrior 
 
"sometimes it's the same moments that take your breath away that breathe purpose and love back into your life" ― steve maraboli, reflections on life and the human experience     
 
"the butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. time is a wealth of change, but the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth. let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf" ― rabindranath tagore
 
"if you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath. life is a collection of moments" ― amit ray, world peace 
 
"we spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. it would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives" ― maya angelou
 
"time takes it all, whether you want it to or not" ― stephen king, the shawshank redemption
 
"some moments are nice...some are nicer...some are even worth writing about" ― charles bukowski 
 
"each day means a new twenty-four hours. each day means everything's possible again. you live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time" ― marie lu, legend 
 
"synchronize each breath with the present moment and become intertwined with happiness. breathing in, we are grateful for the opportunities that are given to us; breathing out, we let go of the depression and anxiety that hold us back" ― forrest curran, purple buddha project 
 
"we're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are"― bill watterson
 
"this moment is all there is...in one moment, we are now forever, in one moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, a year with rumi  
 
"look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
 
"this silence, this moment, every moment, if it’s genuinely inside you, brings what you need. there’s nothing to believe. only when i stopped believing in myself did i come into this beauty...sit quietly, and move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. live in silence, live in this moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul  
 
"i want one moment in time when i'm more than i thought i could be. when all of my dreams are a heartbeat away, and the answers are all up to me. give me one moment in time when i'm racing with destiny. then in that one moment of time, i will feel eternity" ― whitney houston, one moment in time 
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"take the time to appreciate what you see before you, the beauty that surrounds you, see everything by slowing down time and appreciating all the small passing moments...i lived a lifetime in the 11 minutes of this exposure, time just did not pass me by...the more i fill my life up with slowing down life, like i do with my camera exposures, the more i live, the more i see, the more i experience" ― bodhinku, take the time
 
this impression was captured in late afternoon at 2:22pm on a rainy day in the pacific northwest on february 18, 2021...this composition is comprised entirely of one long exposure...exif data: f/22 @ 22mm for 671 seconds, iso-64...and this single frame was not merged with any other exposures like i often do with my photography to achieve the perfect lighting of the entire scene...  
 
this final composition of the single exposure was cropped into the square 1:1 frame you see here, this is not something i do often or ever like to do to one of my raw camera files...because cropping is not desirable to me in any composition unless absolutely necessary to get the image to fit into my pre-vision. usually i like to add to my image area, not subtract from it...by cutting parts of a picture frame out, i loose image resolution for larger prints by cropping the image. but in the case with this composition, i did not have many choices considering where i could position my camera for this extremely long-long exposure, and there would have been camera distortion issues in merging long exposure images shot this wide...
 
in my photography, i always use filters to create these types of 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...
 
for this exposure, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i used two progreyusa filters in the capture of this composition, a 3.0 nd progrey titan 150mm filter to bring the light in the image down 10 stops to create this dreamy effect with motion blur of the water plus naturally saturate all the blues, greens, and reds (rgb's) in the image, and a 0.9 gnd progrey titan 150mm filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the light in the upper trees above the creek at the top of the image an extra three stops and help permit details in the shadows of the lower parts come out better in the exposure...
 
i also used the progrey g-150z holder to hold the filters and secure them to my nikon d810 with a nikon nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8... 
 
and with this being an ulta-long exposure of 11mins and 11seconds (671 seconds), a stable and sturdy tripod is an absolute necessity in order to keep the image sharp...for this i used my faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica tripod 70" carbon fiber tripod, because it is sturdy, tall, and perfectly compact for travelling  
 
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 faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica tripod 70" carbon fiber tripod, in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, 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" ― bodhinku, if nothing else
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty. stop the world. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors 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!" ― bodhinku, my world
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary" ― bodhinku, my diary  
 
i 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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