Following a Nebulous and Uncertain Path

Following a Nebulous Path, Padley Gorge (Platinum-palladium print)

When I was in the UK last month, a friend I was photographing for a project took me to Padley Gorge in the Peak District in Derbyshire. It is a truly magical place with gnarly, moss and lichen covered trees and rocks on either side of the deceptively gentle Burbage Brook. The main shape of the gorge was created in the mid Holocene when the ice retreated, but the storms in the last 10 to 12 millennia have continued to shape the area, since the brook swells and rages when the rain falls. The erosion of Dark Peak shales and carboniferous grist formed the V-shaped banks. From this vantage point, it was a long way to the brook below, and the cause of the landscapes shape was an afterthought.

The sessile oaks and birches in this area have been growing for centuries, another nod to the unfolding of time and the existence of life forms that have born witness to generations of change. Spending time in places where evidence of many geological ages is visible gives me comfort, because it puts this current chaotic period in context and I realize it will not last forever. Then I remember the harm we are causing and how destruction seems to be growing exponentially. I wonder what will become of this planet at the end of this extinction. Will nature reclaim itself and find a way back to health, or are we causing the Earth irreparable harm?

Walking through this area, you can feel you are in the presence of ancient and enduring energy. The moss and lichen are evidence of the good air quality that still exists in this area. Everything was so intertwined and dense that the walking path was of necessity quite narrow and barely visible in places. What struck me the most, though, was the light on the trail. Yes, we were in a dense wood and everything seemed very chaotic, but the path had not disappeared and the sun found a way to illuminate it. Though it felt like we could become lost at any moment, and we did unintentionally end up off the trail a time or two, we found our way and I realized that we are guided in more ways than we are conscious of when we listen to our intuition.

Magical Light in the Forest

When I was walking alone in the woods in the northeast a couple of weeks ago, I felt similarly guided. The energy of the woods was palpable and I felt I was entering a magical world that was so layered I would never be able to perceive all the interconnections. Yet, I also knew I was not meant to catalog them all or understand all the ways the living beings were communicating with one another. It was enough to recognize that in the midst of all this diversity, there was so much cooperation and support. We humans can learn so much from trees and plants and the more than human world. They instinctually strive to survive and thrive, and they work together to accomplish this.

Roots and Steps, Joshin’etsukogen National Park, Japan

Today would have been my father’s 96th birthday. We lost him too soon nine years ago, although I am glad he got to end his life without experiencing all the turbulence that has occurred in the world since he died. I made a large platinum-palladium print of this image I took in Japan today in honor of him. I will never forget all he taught me and I am proud of my roots. It is to our advantage to remember our personal and collective histories and hopefully learn from them, so instead of perpetually repeating past mistakes we might climb a few rungs higher in the evolution of our species. And yet, sadly these past few years have seen our society slide backwards into disconnection, prejudice, division, and cruelty instead of cooperation and kindness.

Near the end of his life, my father said none of us gets to escape death or our awareness that this is our fate, but that we should extend a helping hand to someone in need–not because it would earn us a reward or a place in some afterworld but because it is the right thing to do. Indeed, scientific studies have shown that the positive effects of kindness ripple out into the world. I am heartened that the people of Hungary, Serbia, and Brazil have stood up to authoritarians, and I hope the people in the United States will do the same next week. My prayer is that we can recognize the importance of protecting the beautiful biodiversity in nature and our society before it is too late. Monocultures in ecosystems are prone to pests and disease and only recognizing certain groups in society and trying to erase others will lead to perpetual conflict, a narrowing of perspectives, and a loss of creative ideas, not to mention the human rights violations we are already experiencing. This planet and all life face existential dangers and I expect my father would advocate our becoming allies instead of adversaries, so we could work together in finding ways to slow the destruction and perhaps find solutions or at least better, more humane ways of dealing with the threats we are facing. Voting is our duty, especially when injustice is rampant and so many of us are exhausted by the chaos and ready for positive change.