On Gratitude Walks
Sometimes it is just super important to hear other people validate that what I am doing is a process that others value, too.
I loved hearing my instructor, Laura Valenti, talking about the spiritual value of a Gratitude Walk. I realize I was raised doing these daily walks with my photographer father and family. I have continued the family tradition into making these little videoitos of my walks 2-3 times a month probably.
Sometimes I have gotten discouraged because I think, “Oh, there is no story, no action,” but then on the next great walk, I can’t resist making another one. They are like daily journals. I post them on Facebook, on my Tumblr, and on my Mind on Fire blog. I might get a few comments, but then they just wash under the bridge in the great River of Time.
I love having this new name, “Gratitude Walks,” for them.
I’m excited to get out and see the world all over again!
McKenzie Lavender Festival
Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram; The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rise weeping.
Petre and I joined our friends, Paul Hawkwood and his wife, up the McKenzie River for the Lavender Festival. Festival events were happening up and down the river, but we homed in on the McKenzie River Lavender Farm. The fields were in full bloom and real camera candy. The smell had everyone in a state of happily suspended animation.
It always seems to me as if the lavender was a little woman in a green dress, with a lavender bonnet and a white kerchief. She’s one of those strong, sweet, wholesome people, who always rest you, and her sweetness lingers long after she goes away.
Loved your reference to ‘gratitude walks’, such an essential aspect of our soul work to keep things balanced and internally clear…my favorite way to do this is walking a labyrinth wherever I can find one, for me a sacred time of taking stock and blessing my world and the people I love. However, every walk is in fact a gratitude walk as I observe my world through the lens of my camera and see infinite beauty everywhere. Ahh, the scent of lavender is tonic to my senses…
Thank you, Kinga! We never have enough time to really go out and shoot together!
Thank you, Sandy, for that fragrant stroll! The etymology of the word, lavender, has relatedness to “washing,” “cleansing,” I note, and your gentle piece was, for me, a relaxing lavender bath.
Thank you, Juan Gris! I should have thought of checking the etymology myself, but that’s a great addition!
I walk everyday and everyday I walk I feel gratitude that I can. Since watching both of my active parents lose their ability to ambulate during their final years, I don’t take walking for granted. For me it is freedom to go and to think and to dream and to observe anywhere and everywhere. Walking through fields of lavender is the essence of heaven. Thank you, Sandy, for this cool and fragrant summer dream.