What Wants to Emerge?
I’m Brad Carr, and in Finding Light, I write about photography, Nature, healing, and human potential. I’m on a mission to help, inspire, and educate 1,000,000 people to step into their creative power.
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So often, we approach a landscape with the intention of instilling our story, our vision, our photographic style upon it. When do we ever fall into a state of surrender and ask the landscape the question: What wants to emerge?
It is an important — if not essential — chapter in the human journey for a person to make sense of their life experiences, to heal, to understand, and, perhaps, if they feel called, to share their story — especially if it can contribute something meaningful to society and the overall well-being of humanity. The telling of that story, in whatever way a person deems necessary, can provide emotional relief, invoke feelings of catharsis, add to their overall sense of purpose, and help them find their place in the world.
If one is to exist and function fully in society, a healthy sense of ego is going to be required, after all. But, there must come a point in one’s journey when the pages of one book are closed and one opens a blank journal to begin writing a new one. Only for so long can we beat the same drum. There comes a time, naturally, when a new rhythm wants to emerge, and the soul calls for us to evolve. We cannot refuse this desperate call of evolution. Such a denial would be a disservice to the spirit of creativity that has called us to visit this place within ourselves for reasons that our logical minds will never understand.
Whilst the ego desperately searches and strives for an identity and its place of belonging in the world, both of which are, of course, important, we must not lose touch with the soul that cannot be tamed and contained within the walls of an identity. We must maintain our openness and willingness to ask questions, to be curious, and to step outside our comfort zones to go in search of new adventures and stories to tell.
One of the major challenges we will likely face on our respective artistic journeys is developing an identity around the work we produce and the story we choose to share. If we are not conscious and aware at all times, the very thing that has liberated us from one state of being can quickly become the same thing that imprisons us in another.
This means we must be willing to start again from time to time, ready to let go of all we know and head out into the unknown in search of a new voice and vision. A life worth living is one where exploration and discovery are at the centre of importance — for what is a life that isn’t full of growth, possibilities, and new horizons? What is a life if we are not constantly seeking to meet new sides of ourselves through the mirror of the natural world?
In our creative pursuits, we must, therefore, be willing to surrender our egos when we approach a conversation with the landscape in search of a photograph; when the spirit of creativity comes calling to us once again. We must remain open to new possibilities and opportunities in each location we decide to visit because anyone who remains rigid and bound to what they already know is sure to limit themselves and stunt their own creative and spiritual growth.
Those who approach with reverence and respect for the spirit that is beyond all form are likely to reap the sweetest rewards and discover treasures that will enrich their life beyond all forms of imagination. I am reminded, as I write, of a profound message from one of my favourite writers, the late John O’Donohue:
“What you encounter, recognise, or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation.
When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface, and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”
― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
The great spirit of Nature holds infinite beauty that she longs to reveal to our eyes if we are humble enough to accept our place as mere witnesses to her majesty; if we are gracious enough to surrender what we think we know and approach her landscape with an openness as a child might to every situation; if we are wise enough to understand that the state of becoming is eternal — that we never ‘find ourselves’, but rather we create ourselves with every interaction and every discovery of new places that can introduce us to new parts of ourselves.
I sit and write parts of this essay after a wonderful couple of days in my beloved Eryri (Snowdonia) with a kindred soul and fellow seeker of light and landscape. I introduced him to a couple of my favourite locations, delivering two intensive days of photography tuition during which I shared insights, techniques, and wisdom from my own creative journey as he embarked upon a journey to discover his own photographic vision. We instantly formed a connection — as my intuition informed me we would, following a couple of online introductory calls we scheduled beforehand — and shared two days that will live on as part of me forever.
Encounters with other creative souls on tuition days are never disappointing, and, as it happens, I always seem to attract the ‘right’ kinds of people for me — open, honest, full of curiosity, and with many stories of their own to share to satiate my own curious appetite. It turns out that these encounters always seem to evolve into much more than just the photography. Something spiritual emerges when you find yourself wandering in ancient places with another person; conversations run deeper than the everyday ones, and as the days unfold, I really begin to see the soul of another as they find the courage and comfort necessary to express themselves.
I was praised at times throughout the two days for the presence and space I offered, which allowed for the unfolding and emergence of unforeseen expressions and the exploration of unmapped avenues in conversation. Upon reflection over the past few days, I realise that every conversation and interaction with another needs to be approached with the same patience, respect, and reverence that one approaches the landscape with. After all, the external landscape that we are exploring is a mirror of the internal landscapes that we often fail to acknowledge or are otherwise unaware of.
“One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.”
― John O’Donohue
When we approach a person, therefore, with the same reverence John O’Donohue describes above, great things, indeed, do emerge. When we can meet another person with our full, embodied presence, wonderful things appear before our eyes. Beauty reveals itself in many forms to those who are patient enough to meet her, and new stories, ways of thinking, and seeing await those who are willing to surrender and let go over and over again, allowing for the emergence of the spirit that flows through the landscape and the veins of all beings.
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