On stillness: part 2 of a collaborative photo-essay series

Hi friends!

We are back with part 2 of 5 of our collaborative fun! Every Wednesday for 5 weeks (October 23-November 20), my dear friend Amy (of Tao Te Ching daily) and I will collaborate on a set of essays with a pair of photos.  We each are writing on the topic that the photo evokes and then briefly responding to what the other wrote, so you’ll get to read both essays and see both photographs.  The response to our first post was amazing and we are both so filled with delight that so many of you enjoyed it.

Amy and I recorded a very short audio introduction to our series, which you can listen to here.  I thought it would be super weird to listen to my voice, but it sounds pretty awesome, I think! Have a listen.

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 48

By seeking knowledge every day,
something is gained.
By seeking Tao every day,
something is lost.

Less and less until at last
there is no action at all.

Nothing done and nothing left undone.

Through interfering, one loses the world.
Without interfering, one gains the world.

I got to write first this time, writing what came to mind from the photo and the text above.  I didn’t intend to write a poem, but one just flowed out of me.

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Please read Amy’s response to these words.  I love what she says about thinking originally that it was an unfortunate day to be touring the Chinese garden because it was raining, but finding that it was indeed the best day, that they were very lucky to be where they were in that moment.

This past Sunday morning brought us rain and I opened our patio doors and sat down right there on the floor to savor the sounds and the peace of the water as it bounced on our slate patio tiles.  I can just imagine being where she and her husband were and hearing the music that the rain made on those roof tiles.

The contrast between what one person thinks of as negative and another deems positive strikes me as an excellent lesson in perspective.  My friend Kelly wrote on Monday in her post “Where Grace Lives” about some of her past experiences that she first thought of as negative that actually led her a few years later to realize that “all of those painful things were instrumental in bringing me to this good place in my life – a life full of purpose and joy.”

She concludes, “if God at work through these ‘bad’ things led me to this ‘good’ place, well then how i can call it ‘bad’?  Maybe through the eyes of faith, what I once thought of as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ isn’t so clear anymore.  And going forward, when ‘bad’ things happen, well…how might I see it differently?”

Sort of like Amy’s musical roof tiles.  Who are we to judge the worthiness of any situation or event?

Please share your thoughts with us.  We will be back next Wednesday with Part 3 of our series.  Oh no! You missed Part 1? No worries… catch up here.

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Amy Putkonen writes regularly about the Tao Te Ching at her blog, Tao Te Ching Daily.  She challenges you to reflect on Taoist principles in real life situations and see where it takes you.  Stop by and say hello!

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Naomi Wittlin is a photographer, blogger, and artist who lives in Houston, TX with her husband and 4-year-old daughter.  She welcomes visitors and new subscribers at poeticaperture.com.

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Our collaborative photo-essay series will feature 10 of Naomi’s photographs, all of which are available for purchase as a pack of blank greeting cards.  To see all the images and for details, please click the photo to the left.  They’re sitting right here next to me, waiting for you to ask for some!