Foggy Zuidas

Yesterday I walked along the Zuidas during my lunch break. It was cold and foggy, not the ideal weather for a little stroll, but inhaling fresh air and stretching the legs are supposed to be good for a person and I could use a little break in my working day.

I have noticed during this little Miksang walks that if I focus on looking around me at what is out there I can forget about work for a minute, relax and enjoy being on this planet no matter what the weather is like.

So even on a grey like yesterday without much colour I enjoyed myself immensely, even more so when I spotted this worker's tub with an actual man in it (see photo below).

Looking back at this photo I can't help but wonder that this man's occupation is so different than mine. It must be quiet up there, he can see the world from a different view and he probably asks himself why we are looking so incredibly busy. And he is right, we should take our work into perspective (at least I should): if I am run over by a tram tomorrow, is the stress about work the most important thing in my life or is that the appreciation of every day life and its little moments of magic? What says ye?

Evening sky

Last weekend daylight saving time was finished and Wintertime was back on, meaning the end of Summer and signifying that Autumn has seriously started.

Which means to people with office jobs like me that in the morning it is still light, but dusk is already falling when we travel back home. 

When I got out of the university today I looked up and saw this incredible colourful sky. 

These little moments make my day and I simply couldn't wait to post the pictures. Did you notice the skies this week?

Practicing moments with people

Yesterday I got together with two girlfriends from the Miksang group. We met at the Vondelpark in Amsterdam for a coffee and then went photographing. Anjali and I put our intention on Moments, Meta on That.
That signifies connecting with the qualities of a field of perception (i.e. leaves or people). It is not a special moment, it is not depending on time, it is always there.
Moments signifies an event: our heart resonates with something, it is there and then it is gone. It has a fleeting quality.

I wanted to go to the busy area of the Museumplein which is a touristy kind of place. A few large and famous museums are located on the square and usually lots of tourists go there to take photos. I thought that was an ideal place to practice Moments with people in continuation of the workshop of last weekend.

guy taking picture

Well, there were lots of people around, no problem there. The problem with people is that they move around all the time so you really have to be available, to have your camera in the standby mode and ready to hit the release button.

young guy with map

I noticed that people sitting down and taking a picture themselves are relatively quiet and easier to focus on. Having my DSLR instead of my powershot made a huge difference: it reacts quicker so the shot is more accurate.

oriental woman taking photo

It was a grey day though, so no deep shadows or high highlights and there was hardly any wind. The perfect weather for a little outing.

seagull in pond at Museumplein

two guys with cell phones

woman just after taking a picture 

woman taking picture

After shooting we went for lunch in a nearby quiet place. We chatted, selected our pictures and showed them to each other on a little laptop or an iPad. Practice days like this are relaxing, joyful and instructive at the same time. We all learn from each other.

Yoga and Art (Yoku): You as part of nature II

Thursday night was the second part of the theme You as part of nature. We started with recollecting memories and thinking of how we were as a child and our connection then with nature. All I could think of was the sea and the beach: my grandmother used to live at the coast town of Katwijk aan Zee and Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring, we would go there and stay with her.

The yoga session was focused on 'the essence of self' with lots of heart openers and fire breathing. But this time I didn't have an image that popped up during the session, nor a strong emotion.

my drawing

When we went drawing (chalk like last time) we were asked to start with the outer edges and filling them in with darker colours, these connect with that childhood memory. We would fill in the middle with what we thought or felt was our core. My drawing is the one above: the blue on the outer edges is linked to the sea. My core is red and orange which represent my love. People might think I am arrogant when they first meet me, but that is a shield to protect me, I am really a shy person. So I'm kind of cool on the outside, but warm on the inside.

Since I hadn't received a clear image during yoga, I couldn't quite visualize how to put my love on paper. I noticed I was making an eye shape in the middle and I really didn't want that. When I got home I realized that the eye was correct: I see, I photograph and I blog about what I see. Looking and seeing are very important parts of my life hence Miksang photography.

a participant telling her story

listening mode

As always I was touched by the very personal drawings and the stories that go with them. I'm learning so much from these girls it surprises me and at the same time I am very thankful to be part of these workshops.

Umbrellas

Today, it rained for most part of the day. In the afternoon I decided to go outside for a walk in town and photograph people with umbrellas.

As I went around town I noticed it was not so easy to do that. First of all, people move around all the time and secondly holding a camera and an umbrella myself is a little bit like juggling.

Then there is the thing that I don't want to take pictures right in the faces of people, so discretion is another ingredient of this craft. 

lots of people in the rain

two girls under a pink umbrella 

see-through raincoat

I saw this plastic see-through raincoat and I thought it was charming. The colourful edges really make it happy coat.

couple under a red umbrella

Here and there people stood still for a short while, then it's easier to aim, focus, relax and hit the release button. 

couple under a lopsided umbrella 

four-coloured umbrella

I decided that my Canon Powershot is not up to the task: it takes about 3 long seconds before actually taking the picture and that is too long. By then people have moved to a different position.

three umbrellas close to the Flower Market

couple under a yellow umbrella

I am going to try this again, but then with my DLSR. I am curious as to what the difference will be.

Leaves and bicycles

Yesterday a storm raged over our country and specifically in the coastal area. There was a yellow alert and people were advised to stay at home as much as possible.

In the morning everything was fine, but the winds got stronger in the afternoon. I left my bike at work and took the tram back home. It didn't seem that bad, but I noticed there were sudden violent winds that could knock you off your socks.

Today I went for a walk around the block at work and noticed what the storm had left behind. That was not so bad, a lot of leaves had been blown about the place and some bicycles were blown over.

Thankfully the storm didn't leave much national damage either which made it easier to enjoy the little disasters.

I enjoyed how the leaves had been blown everywhere, they were scattered as if a whirlwind had swept through them. And in a sense that is of course what happened.

Welcome to Autumn!

Day III Moments and Visual Haiku: moments and people

On the third and last day of this workshop our teacher explained that there are three similarities between miksang (photography) and haiku (poetry):
1. Subtle resonance. We come to a more subtle layer in ourselves, our heart resonates with something and our heart becomes also more subtle. Subtiety and heart level are inextricably linked with each other.

2. Immens directness. On the second day during writing a haiku we worked with senses which experience direct perceptions. Miksang is also about sense perceptions, the contact with your own body: what do you feel, smell or hear?

3. Looking and seeing. Looking is considered a skill aspect: we are looking all day around, looking is a means. In Miksang contemplative photography we are training ourselves in looking in a more open-minded and unbiased way which will lead to seeing (wisdom aspect). Seeing is an experience, which is also imbedded in our language: "I'll believe it when I see it." Insight and heart connection are also part of seeing. A haiku is also about insight, experience and heart connection.

The morning of the third day we started walking a block around our teacher's apartment with the same assignment as yesterday: perceiving moments with leaves on sidewalks for just about half an hour. The assignment for the whole morning was perceiving moments with people. It can be quite daunting to do that in the wild, so we started practicing on each other. First as a group and later in pairs.

Above is an impression what it looks like when we were photographing each other. The pictures of the hands are taking when we were split up in twos.

Marielle's hands

Annette's hands

After lunch when we were a bit more comfortable with this field, we spread out either photographing moments with leaves or people.

kite surfer and friend

As I wrote before I am still not in my comfort zone photographing people, especially in the streets. Also, jumping in front of someone with your camera is so not Miksang. I need to feel comfortable looking at people without them thinking I want something of them and secondly still make contact with them from my side to establish that heart connection, that little jump of my heart when I see something that takes my breath away even for a tiny little bit.

footstep filled with sea foam

I am afraid it didn't really happen with me, photographing people, but I did see some other moments. You meet moments or you don't and I sort of didn't that afternoon.

How about you, do see moments during your day?