Pondering Peace – a Visual Contemplation at Middle Three Island Pond

There’s nothing quite like life to remind us how important it is to reconnect to our inner peace.

There’s no greater gift than inner peace – for ourselves and others.

Awareness is the first key. How easily do you notice you’re off kilter?

Being able to shift back to your True Self state of inner peace is the next step.

Sometimes, awareness is the magic ingredient that triggers an instant shift into a more peaceful way of being.

From awareness comes acceptance. From acceptance comes a letting go of resistance to what is. Then comes a realignment with the truth. Being. Doing. Inner Peace.

Other times, however, that shift can take a whole lot longer and the slowness of the shift does nothing to improve your inner chaos. It just adds a layer of frustration at how human you’re being!

I arrived at this Airbnb photo job for my friend Gordon Martin of People Places & Things hours behind schedule and hungry.

I’d done well so far that morning choosing love over fear, but with a couple of hours of photography ahead before I could mess up the kitchen, my inner grumblings (physical, mental & emotional) took over. I was now hangry!

In that state, it was really hard to see the beauty around me, much less photograph it.

I was aware of my state. I even laughed at myself. I confessed to Gordon & my traveling companion Joanne that I was having an unusually hard time shifting back to peace. My emergency protein bar didn’t seem to make a difference.

My wise Observer Self fully realized what was happening. But my little human self was having an inner tantrum. Can you relate? 

Finally, after I’d photographed the indoors, eaten a nice warm bowl of curry veggie stew, and headed outdoors doused in bug spray – I could much more easily focus on the beauty.

And what beauty!

As I was brought back to bliss by Mother Nature’s invitation to honour her beauty with my camera, my friend Joanne Best came back in time for a canoe ride on the very still pond. 

The week before, we’d arranged to meet so she could pick up 8 paintings to bring back to Earth & Sky Gallery & Healing Centre in Twillingate for the tourist season. Perfect timing! I invited her to join me for the first of my 3 nights at this cabin on Middle Three Island Pond in Torbay, NL.

As you’ll see in the video, her birthday despacho fire ceremony was a highlight of my stay. She’d co-created this prayer bundle & offering the night before with shamanic practitioner, Regina Wright.

For the next 2.5 days & nights, I thoroughly enjoyed my inner and outer state of peace – witness to the ever-changing weather on the pond.

The fog and rain were as beautiful as the sunshine. The pure stillness was as much a blessing as the 60 km/hr ripples on the water.

Mother Nature was reminding me that if I could find beauty in all her states, I needed to do the same for myself.  I too, in both my human and spirit states am beautiful. 

My experience of the first few hours didn’t have to taint my whole experience. It simply was.

I acknowledged and expressed it. Then I shifted – eventually…

This is the human experience – all of it.

And as the soul quenching call of the loons brought me back to the moment with gratitude, I knew that the next time my inner grumblings got loud enough to notice, it would be easier to come back to the here and now and appreciate the process of transformation – this breath at a time.

Nature photography is part of my self-care regimen – a wonder-full transformational tool. What’s yours?

May it become easier and easier for you to realign with the loving beautiful being that you are. And may this 17-minute video “Pond(ering) Peace” add a layer of love & beauty to your day. Enjoy! If the video quality is poor, use the little gear wheel bottom right to change it to High Definition (1080 HD).

P.S. If you’d like to contribute to my creating & sharing of these artistic videos, I gladly accept your donations by e-transfer (Canadians) or Paypal at [email protected]. Any amount is welcome in exchange for a credit (or dedication to a loved one) in my next feature presentation. It all adds up! Thank you!

P.P.S. I’m slowing down for the summer, giving myself permission to publish a post every 2 weeks until September. May you too find ways to relax and listen to the callings of your inner peace.