Thoughts on Existence: Visible Evidence of Intent

It Began With a Red Sky

I looked out the window as twilight approached, and the sky had the most unusual and fascinating hue. A low pressure system was heading our way, but in combination with the light that the sun gave off as it kissed the horizon yet one more time, the resulting image only left me in awe.

Later in the evening I went to a BMX Racing Park a few miles from my house. My plan was to get some footage of bicyclists as they “catch air” for the second round of a video competition sponsored by Panasonic called, “Share The Air!” It calls for producing an action sport video that is 24-seconds in length. With the submission deadline not too far off, there’s time to make an entry, so I went out in search of images, which I found, although they were not what I expected. I also found unexpected but much appreciated insights into this thing called life.
I grabbed my Nikon (D200) upon exiting my car to survey the track and get a feel for the light. It’s was quite a place. Pickup trucks, vans, and SUV’s, soccer moms and dads with kids of all ages (including some dads acting as kids) with finely engineered bicycles designed to rapidly transport them around an dirt course at optimum speed.

I arrived there as the signup and practice sessions were coming to a close. The wind also picked up markedly, with a strong suggestion that rain would soon follow.

While many of the youngest riders did well to simply make it through the entire course, some of the older riders (but still quite young compared to yours truly) were able to literally soar over some portions of the course.

As race time approached, the rain became more than a hint. The stiff wind took on the added quality of being wet. Race officials accelerated their already upbeat pace to get the racing in on this, the inaugural race date for 2007.
I decided that neither the lighting nor the weather conditions were what I sought for shooting video, so my beloved behemoth never left the comfort of the car. But the trusty Nikon did indeed render some images that makes one think nutritious thoughts about the nature of things.

I had positioned myself at the start line to take pictures of riders as they leaned in to the race while the gate dropped, and left the chutes. The lower light levels suggest that a flash would be best to get a sharp, clear photographic image.

One of the nice things about new digital camera technology is the ability to see what you have right after you take it. You can tell if the image that you shot is actually what you sought. There are times when it’s less, and you make adjustments. Sometimes, it’s much more. Sometimes an picture that doesn’t necessarily make a “great” photographic image tells you more. I’ll certainly say that I got more out of what is to follow than might have normally met the eye.

After shooting a few shots with the flash, I decided to try shooting without it, setting the ISO to “100”, and allowing the camera to determine the exposure on its own. I knew this would create longer exposures, and while I didn’t have my tripod with me, I found a solid place to position myself to frame the shot while giving me every opportunity to be as motionless as possible. The results were spectacular.

Now to you, this may simply be simple blurring that happens when you hold a camera shutter open in dark setting. And you’d be correct. But to me, it means much more.

In my eyes, what you see here is each riders’ intent, the energy that precedes their actual movement on their journey. Now I realize that in the creation of the image itself, the image of the form was “imprinted” first, when I first opened the shutter, and the blur was created after they left the blocks and started the race, and the form was no longer where it had been. So while I’m calling this blurred image visible evidence of intent, it could also be seen as the rider’s energy dust. Neither viewpoint negates the other, for there is an even larger awareness staring us in the face, if we can appreciate it.

The awareness is that duality — the sense of separateness which is the foundation of our perceptions of reality — is evidenced in each timeslice that we perceive as the moment. Duality contributes to the sense of stasis that defines normal perception, when in fact, we are always in energetic motion. In fact, we are living, energetic motion. That is what spirits are (human and otherwise); that’s what life is. Intent is the direction we flow ourselves (energy being synonomous) into, sometimes consciously, often unconsciously; sometimes lovingly, oftentimes fearfully. Yet, it’s all energetic; it’s all life.

If we kept the shutter that governs our view of life “open” all the time, we would see and be perceived by everyone as blurs, as we are rarely still. Even when we are at rest, we’re in motion. Life is happening wherever we happen to “be.”

The image below is of a rider whose intent was to stop at the gate, so he became more “present” and perceivable at the head of his energy signature, in reverse of the others. Do you feel the spirit in these images?

It was so much fun to capture these spirits at play. Spirits is what we are, though many of us have a hard time being playful and enjoying it. And don’t let someone else be having a great time, because there’s always something to be serious (meaning less joyful) about.

I salute and appreciate these kids and families, and the insight they helped me see and capture to share with you.

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