Togetherness by Bodhi Smith

Sep 03, 2021

"togetherness" a brand new impression and blog from me...
 
"these trees look like they are posing for the photo, the three of them just happy to be together. i mean, seriously hanging out with a couple hella good friends, a warm sea breeze, sugary sands, crystal blue water, and sunshine at the beach...togetherness, what more do you really need?" ― bodhinku, togetherness 
     
"i don't want to be lost in love, i want to be found. to be discovered and uncovered bit by glorious bit; revealed and revered in each glorious facet. i don't want to be lost in love; i want to surrender into it fully. to make a willing leap and not a stumbled fall. i want to be better together within the light, seen, not hidden. to allow only those to stand before my altar and into my inner temple that are present, conscious, and open. to only welcome those into my arms who who stand beside me equal, authentic and whole. i don't want to be lost in love; i want to embrace it completely, unafraid, raw and blissfully awake." ― c. ara campbell (with additions by bodhinku)
 
"love creates a great need to be alone, and aloneness creates a great need for togetherness" ― osho, book of wisdom
 
"life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction" ― antoine de saint-exupery, the little prince
 
"whenever beauty looks, love is also there; whenever beauty shows a rosy cheek, love lights her fire from that flame. when beauty dwells in the dark folds of night, love comes and finds a heart entangled in tresses. beauty and love are as body and soul. they have been better together since the beginning of time, side by side, step by step.” ― jalaluddin rumi
 
"i know you exist. i know you are out there somewhere looking for me too, and one day we will meet and we will share countless breathless moments of 'oh my god' together" ― bodhinku, togetherness 
  
this song is my favorite jack johnson song to date....and with its lyrics, it is the perfect accompaniment to connect music with the meaning of my impression today: "better together" by jack johnson ... (just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....

"there is no combination of words i could put on the back of a postcard. no song that i could sing, but i can try for your heart. our dreams, and they are made out of real things like a shoe box of photographs with sepia-toned loving. love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. like, why are we here? and where do we go? and how come it's so hard? it's not always easy, and sometimes life can be deceiving. i'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together. mmmmm, it's always better when we're together...yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together. well, it's always better when we're together. yeah, it's always better when we're together...and all of these moments just might find their way into my dreams tonight. but i know that they'll be gone when the morning light sings and brings new things for tomorrow night. you see that they'll be gone too. too many things i have to do. but if all of these dreams might find their way into my day to day scene, i'd be under the impression i was somewhere in between with only two, just me and you. not so many things we got to do or places we got to be. we'll sit beneath the mango tree now...mmmmm, it's always better when we're together. yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together. well, it's always better when we're together. yeah, it's always better when we're together...i believe in memories they look so, so pretty when i sleep. hey now, and when i wake up, you look so pretty sleeping next to me, but there is not enough time, and there is no, no song i could sing. and there is no combination of words i could say. but i will still tell you one thing, we're better together" ― jack johnson, better together
 
"anywhere we might be
no matter how ugly 
or good the weather
we're there till infinity
loving together
knowing you, knowing me
knowing nirvana's pleasure
as far as i can see
only your eyes, your face
glowing with thee
takes me to the place
anywhere we might be
that's our life's treasure
better together" ― bodhinku, better together: a poem
 
"it takes only a moment to divide people, but a lifetime to bring them together again..." ― bodhinku, together  
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MEANING
"i can't wait until i finally find her, and she finds me and says, 'oh it's you!'. and we can transform into the feathers covering each others wings and fly away into our colorful sunset together...that's our life's treasure, better together" ― bodhinku, better together
 
these trees look like they are posing for the photo, the three of them just happy to be together. i mean, seriously hanging out with a couple hella good friends, a warm sea breeze, sugary sands, crystal blue water, and sunshine at the beach...togetherness, what more do you really need?
 
but i've a deeper meaning, one that has been an undercurrent in my psyche lately, and one that has been the stream of thought in most of my recent blogs lately...
 
"togetherness" is defined by merriam-webster as: a happy feeling of affection and closeness to other people, especially your friends and family...
 
i'm all alone yet still together with a lady who is out there somewhere. we've yet to cross paths in this world, but i know she is real. her and i think alike and are looking for the same things together. i feel her in my heart, and my soul desperately longs to connect with hers. she lives each of her life's moments fully and looks past none of them. she's artistic and free. her spirit dances with the milky way each night. she hopes, she dreams. she loves. she feels the same way about me and breathes my name into her lungs, though she has not met me in this life yet. she longs to be together with me one day...she exists, i just need to look into her eyes anew and know that i've always known her...
 
i hope one day comes soon, that one day when our eyes connect deeply with each other and she asks me: fly away with me, and let's never look back, and i respond to her: of course, if you are a bird, i 'm a bird...and we take off and fly together to a happily ever after of togetherness...
 
i know she's out there somewhere, these words are for her: i know you exist. i know you are walking this planet somewhere looking for me too, and one day we will meet, and we will share countless breathless moments of 'oh my god' together"... i can't wait until i finally find her, and she finds me and says, 'oh it's you!'. and we can transform into the feathers covering each others wings and fly away into our colorful sunset together...that's our life's treasure, better together...
 
"adoring of each other fully. full of beautiful love and magical connections. teaming with understanding and devotion. filled to the top in togetherness existing as one" ― bodhinku, togetherness
 
and when her and i finally reconnect together only knowing one thing, that something of this certainty comes but once in a lifetime, we will dance and laugh and play together under the stars, and sing this song together without the need for words all night long... "so happy together" by the turtles   ... (just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)... 
 
"imagine me and you, i do. i think about you day and night, it's only right. to think about the girl you love and hold her tight, so happy together...if i should call you up, invest a dime. and you say you belong to me and ease my mind. imagine how the world could be, so very fine, so happy together...i can't see me lovin' nobody but you for all my life. when you're with me, baby the skies will be blue for all my life...me and you and you and me. no matter how they toss the dice, it had to be. the only one for me is you, and you for me, so happy together...i can't see me lovin' nobody but you for all my life. when you're with me, baby the skies will be blue for all my life...me and you and you and me. no matter how they toss the dice, it had to be. the only one for me is you, and you for me, so happy together...ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba...ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba...me and you and you and me, no matter how they toss the dice, it had to be the only one for me is you, and you for me, so happy together. so happy together...how is the weather? so happy together. we're happy together, so happy together. happy together, so happy together" ― the turtles, so happy together
 
"i'm all alone yet still together with a lady who is out there somewhere. we've yet to cross paths in this world, but i know she is real. her and i think alike and are looking for the same things together. i feel her in my heart, and my soul desperately longs to connect with hers" ― bodhinku, better together
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"i hope one day comes soon, that one day when our eyes connect deeply with each other and she asks me: fly away with me, and let's never look back, and i respond to her: of course, if you're a bird, i 'm a bird...and we take off and fly together to a happily ever after of togetherness  " ― bodhinku, togetherness 
 
this image was inspired by one of my favorite surrealist paintings entitled. "three sphinxes of bikini" by one of my favorite artists, salvador dali...
 
"three sphinxes of bikini" by salvador dali
 
...and amazingly coincidentally, my impression "togetherness" was taken just down the road from the salvador dali museum in st. petersburg, florida!
 
i had the vision in my mind for over 10 long years to find three palm trees captured in my own unique artistic style with my use of color and long exposure camera techniques that would resemble dali's painting...and finally that vision of mine was realized in capturing this impression on the morning of august 3rd while i was visiting my buddy mark in st. pete beach...
 
"she lives each of her life's moments fully and looks past none of them. she's artistic and free. her spirit dances with the milky way each night. she hopes, she dreams. she loves. she feels the same way about me and breathes my name into her lungs, though she has not met me in this life yet. she longs to be together with me one day" ― bodhinku, together  
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
"love and ego can never exist together, just as the sun and shadow cannot" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha
 
"the second stage of enlightenment: silence, relaxation, togetherness, inner being. this is a time of enlightenment. it is a new order, a harmony, from within, which comes from the inner being. it is the quality of freedom. the inner chaos has disappeared and a new silence, relaxation and togetherness has arisen. your own wisdom from within has arisen, and only a subtle ego is still present now" ― lao tzu, tao te ching  
 
"our ancient experience confirms at every point that everything is linked together, everything is inseparable" ― dalai lama xiv, the art of happiness
 
"i offer you peace. i offer you love. i offer you friendship. i see your beauty. i hear your need. i feel your feelings. my wisdom flows from the highest source. i salute that source in you. let us work in togetherness, for unity and peace" ― mohandas mahatma gandhi 
  
"great things are not put together randomly or by impulse. but instead by a series of small things brought into togetherness" ― vincent van gogh
 
"she and i are two unhappy ones who keep together and carry our burdens together, and in this way unhappiness is changed to joy, and the unbearable becomes bearable" ― vincent van gogh
 
"that’s the thing about great love. it elevates everything around it. you walk through a forest together and it becomes a great temple. you eat a meal together and you sit at god’s banquet table. you merge your bodies and all heaven breaks loose. that’s why we can’t stop singing about love. every verse is a cry for togetherness" ― jeff brown
 
"there is no more precious a privilege than to be loved without reserve or judgement. to look deeply into your partner’s eyes and see that, despite your many faults and flaws, you will always be better together, because you are cherished precisely as you are. once you have known a love like that in your life, it stays with you forever and a day" ― beau taplin, remedy
 
"by night, love, tie your heart to mine, and the two together in their sleep will defeat the darkness" ― pablo neruda
 
"at night i dream that you and i are two trees that grew together, roots entwined, and that you know the earth and the rain like my mouth, since we are made of earth and rain" ― pablo neruda, 100 love sonnets
 
"i want you to have everything you deserve. we’ll still be together because you have my heart, my body, and my soul" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist
 
"in fact as i see it, no lover has ever betrayed anybody. it is only ignorance that kills love...nobody betrays it. both wanted to be together, but somehow both were ignorant. their ignorance played tricks upon them and became multiplied. by and by they drifted. then they think that love is dangerous. love is not dangerous. only unawareness is dangerous" ― osho, the hidden splendor
 
"if conversation was the lyrics, laughter was the music, making time spent together a melody that could be replayed over and over without getting stale" ― nicholas sparks, the best of me
 
"we fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. for me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. i'll never forget a single moment of it" ― nicholas sparks, the notebook
 
"i love you. i am who i am because of you. you are every reason, every hope, and every dream i've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. i will always be yours" ― nicholas sparks, the notebook
 
"i fell in love with her when we were together, then fell deeper in love with her in the years we were apart" ― nicholas sparks, dear john
 
"can miles truly separate you from love?... if you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there, together?" ― richard bach, jonathan livingston seagull 
 
"every relationship we have—with mom, with dad, with brothers, with sisters, with friends, with lover—is unique because we dream a small dream together. every relationship becomes a living being made by dreamers" ― don miguel ruiz, the four agreements  
 
"i have known you
since the beginning
of time
the one
i have loved always
in spirit.
only just discovered
 
"stay together, friends. don't scatter and sleep. our friendship is made of being awake" ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul  
 
"a moment of happiness, you and i laying together on the grass of eden, apparently two, but one in soul, you and i. we feel the flowing water of life here, you and i, with the garden's beauty and the birds singing. the stars will be watching us, and we will show them what it is to be a thin crescent moon. you and i unselfed, will be together, as we laugh together, you and i. in one form upon this earth, and in another form in a timeless sweet land"― jalaluddin rumi, hush don't say anything to god 
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
"and when her and i finally reconnect together only knowing one thing, that something of this certainty comes but once in a lifetime, we will dance and laugh and play together under the stars, and sing a song together without the need for words all night long" ― bodhinku, better together
      
captured about 30 mins after sunrise on a calm windless beach in Saint Petersburg, Florida on august 3, 2021...this composition is comprised entirely of one long exposure (f/22 @16mm for 33secs, iso-40)...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...  
 
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...
 
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 filter to bring the light in the image down 10 stops to create this dreamy effect with motion blur of the water and clouds and naturally saturate the primary rgb's (reds, greens and blues) in the image, and a 0.9 gnd progrey titan filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the light in the sky and clouds at the top of the image an extra three stops and help permit details in the shadows of the palm trees come out better...
 
 
and with this being a quasi-long exposure of 33 seconds, a stable and sturdy tripod is an absolute necessity in order to keep the image sharp...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 induro phq3 series 5-way panhead with induro carbon fiber stealth 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
 
"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" ― bodhinku, into 
 
"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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