There are places on this earth where the knots holding reality in place are very loose. You can find them at the edges of things, where two constructs meet and weave, and there’s a path out through this woven space leading to release. Out through the shimmering golden grass, and along the edge of the ocean and the sky. Hold my hand, and follow me, into the time when the knots almost came undone. Into the time when reality almost lost his grip.
Everything was so relaxed on this day that motion had almost stopped. The wind was a faint whisper, unable to even stir a ripple on the water. The ocean itself had almost forgotten to flow with the tide, it was so carefree and relaxed. No one was paying any attention the the sun as he tried to move the hour forwards, and the sky began to slide into the sea. It’s was a tiny movement to begin with, just a beautiful reflection.
Then the sun succumbed to the release, and he forgot to hold himself together. His glittering light spilled out across the water in thousands of shimmering stars, each one a little baby sun, dissolving into the salt of the sea.
Now things were really unravelling, and the slide out of reality was almost inevitable. Too many threads had become untied, and the light of the sun was beginning to unweave the water and her waves. Ocean and sky were merging, and no one cared. The spell of release was gathering strength, and reality had only just woken up.
He stood and watch in disbelief as the sky slid without hesitation into the stillness of the sea. Clouds were drifting without a care across the water of the earth. The above had become the below, and this was beginning to release even stronger ties which had never been eased since the first knots of this world had been put in place.
Were those fish swimming through the clouds, and were the birds flying in water? Nothing made sense anymore, and anything was possible. A wish whispered into the watery clouds at this moment would certainly come true, and reality could be shaped in any direction. The carefree release was in danger of flowing out across the whole face of the earth.
The distant isles of the otherworld came sliding across the horizon, and reality knew he had to act fast. He started with those mythical rocks. Drawing a firm straight line across the water, to separate the otherworld from ours, he began putting the ropes and threads back into their proper places. Setting motion back through the world in a stately and proper order, but for a little while the sky lingered in the sea, enjoying the new view, returning when the sun had regathered himself and dropped below the horizon, as he should do every evening.
It’s beautiful to be in the spaces where reality is thin, and a carefree whisper releases our minds into the soft light between here and there. It’s also beautiful to return to ourselves when the adventure is over, and we walk back along the now dim path, calmer and more centred, as though our own threads have been re woven. Following release is a re- gathering, and the cycle flows on into eternity.
You can click on any image to see it in all its glorious detail.
And you can click on this link to see lots more interpretations of carefree in this weeks photo challenge.
breathofgreenair 
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Oh Seonaid, from where do your words flow. Just beautiful.
From somewhere deep within my soul and its connection to the earth 🙂 Isn’t that true of us all.
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This is one of my favourite sets of pictures of yours …they are magical and warm….they wrap me in their golden ‘summer- ness.’
The stars of the ocean in the day are very special indeed.
Thank you as ever. Andrea
Andrea, what lovely feedback, it’s lovely to hear how much you enjoyed these shots. It was a beautiful evening, and the light was magical…..I love it when this happens, it gets me excited and filled with joy 🙂
you are most welcome….always
I am inspired by your previous post and some footage on tv to actually get to edinburgh next year for the festival. do you have some hidden gem of a b and b or boutique hotel you could recommend?
most grateful for any insider guidance and tips….andrea
HI there. I wonder if i would ask you to have a look at my blog and tell me what you find as I think something is not working as before. I wonder if my notifications are off ? unsure but a little helping hand would be much appreciated. Andrea
Your latest posts don’t seem to be arriving in my reader. I find this happens to some of the blogs I follow sometimes. Will un-follow and re-follow to see if this fixes it….usually this sorts things out 🙂
Clouds, water, words – all so dreamy. Just soaked it in. Thank you!
You’re very welcome to join me in dreaming 🙂
Glorious photos, Seonaid 🙂 I really, really love them, especially the one with reflected stars 😉
Paula, that’s wonderful to hear, and what’s not to love about glittering stars….especially when reflected on dark water 🙂
Really poetic shots 🙂
I love that, thank you. I had never thought of photos as poetic….but of course why not 🙂
Beautiful photos and mesmerising text that captured the mood very lucidly.
Thanks very much, and it was all inspired by a beautiful evening. Nature is wonderful 🙂
bravo, for the seamless enveloping texture of thought, words & images — I have sometimes had the feeling you describe, also while finding myself alone somewhere geographically at the edge of things, but I never managed to formulate the feeling as well as you have done here
Thanks Penny, it just sort of poured out once I started. I guess I got lost in the beauty all over again while I worked on the photos and the post. It’s good to swept away now and again 🙂
loved this part: “There are places on this earth where the knots holding reality in place are very loose. You can find them at the edges of things, where two constructs meet and weave, and there’s a path out through this woven space leading to release.”
When we head up to 12,000 feet on Mosquito Pass (in Colorado, USA), I see the knots begin to unravel myself.
What an evocative name, I am imagining swarms of giant bugs swirling through like clouds, and urging us to keep moving 🙂
Mountains are definitely another place where reality is woven thin, and somehow this thinness relaxes and releases something in me.
What beautiful photos! I love the starbursts. The shots with the long grasses in the foreground really catch my eye too.
Very kind Sheri, there was so much happening around me on this walk that it was hard to know where to focus…..the light was really lovely, and I was pulled from grass to rocks, to ocean and sky….a wonderful experience 🙂
Seonaid, It’s an amazing world full of mystery. Your words and photos drew me right in. I especially love your line: “His glittering light spilled out across the water in thousands of shimmering stars, each one a little baby sun, dissolving into the salt of the sea.” and the accompanying photographs. Beautiful post. -Maureen
It is indeed, and I love to be swept away into it. I think that line has quite a gathering of tension and then release into the dissolving 🙂 thanks so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed this.
Wow .. such a gathering of comments. Congratulations. What a great construct … that of reality as having substance and able to be variably thin and thick and tight and only loosely gathered. I think you are correct though that one’s perception of reality can change in those ways. The images, too, express those variable realities … mostly on the thin and loosely tied end of the spectrum. Thanks for something wonderful to think about today. D
Indeed, the thin and loosely tied end of the spectrum is exactly where this post sits 🙂
I’m always surprised that everyone doesn’t view the world in this way, as I can’t help but see it like this! Isn’t it wonderful that the world s filled with people all looking and experiencing in different ways.
This was an amazing way to start my day Seonaid! I always love your beautiful imagery and words woven together to make magic. This one was especially perfect. I wish I could paint my walls with it and read and view it everyday as I start my day and end my day. This is a true magical experience to walk through. So awe inspiring! You’re simply amazing!
Wow Janine, what strong praise. I’m delighted that you connect so deeply with this post. I have a wonderful image in my head now of the photos and words projected around my house, onto the walls and corners….wonderful idea:-)
It’s so lovely to know that these weavings of words and photos are liked and appreciated, because it brings me great joy creating them.
Lovely words and oh my – such spectacular shots!
Fi that’s very kind of you. I know you’ll agree that reflections on water make beautiful subjects.
you’ve written a great INTRO with:
“There are places on this earth
where the knots holding reality
in place are very loose…”
http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/the-pantheon-challenge/#comment-44860
P.S.:
try to visit Santorini …
or enjoy our photo gallery:
Frizz, that’s a wonderful gallery of images, I spent ages browsing through and soaking in the sun and warmth….what wonderful light.
I visited Santorini about 4 years ago, and funnily I will be back there in a few weeks, I can’t wait.
Thanks Frizz, glad you liked the words…they seemed to fall out if the pictures 🙂
The Scottish Tourist Board should really consider hiring you – I bet loads of your readers are contemplating booking flights to Scotland based on your stunning images. Me? I’m so glad I chose to live here. I certianly need to get out and do some more exploring though.
It really is a beautiful place to live, and wonderful for photography with its ever shifting light. I think that writing the blog has probably got me out and about even more than I did before.
Absolutely beautiful – what a wonderful exploration of places where reality is thin. Thanks for sharing it.
So glad you enjoyed the journey. They are such creative places these spots where reality is thin 🙂
You have such an amazing gift. Those shots of the sun on the water were unreal! The reflection of light actually looks like a trail of stars. I bow to you. . . thank you for always bringing such beauty into my life.
Wow, what a wonderful comment, thank you.
I was mesmerised by the trail of stars….it almost made me want to walk out into the water and away along the path of light.
All of them are like true paintings but the first two – wow, I am truly amazed! Those colors are almost surreal.
PS: A new photo challenge – you are welcome to participate! http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/eses-weekly-shoot-quote-challenge/
Thank you, I love those two shots too….the light was so delicious and the reflections across the Firth of Forth were wonderful. It’s not very often that the water is calm enough across this big body of sea water to allow cloud reflections. I just had to share 🙂
I’m going to think about beginnings tonight as I drift off to sleep, and see if I can come up with something inspired for your challenge.
Lovely post with beautiful photos!
Thanks Janaline 🙂
Nice post and beautiful photos!
Thanks so much, very glad to have you visit.
Embodied mystery wrapped in nature’s wisdom, beauty and magnificence! I especially love the stars dancing across the water! Magical indeed…. remembering that is us! Beautifully written and imaged Seonaid!! Love coming from Austin, Texas!
Thanks for the love Gaye, we are indeed stars, radiating the eternal light into the darkness, from our bodies of stardust. It’s so wonderful to meet a fellow mystery seeker, and from across the salty ocean in Texas. So lovely to have connected, and to continue doing so with each post 🙂
It feels good to see such gorgeous photos get such resounding positive response in your reply’s above…They are beautiful, I love your beach scenes.
Charlie, you words are always so encouraging, thank you. It’s wonderful when photos I love generate such wonderful feedback 🙂
Seonaid, these are very special photos and you’ve woven that spell again 🙂
Jo, I’m delighted to hear that the spell worked again 🙂
I love these shots, and its a pleasure to share them, thank you.
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Love how you wrap up your post … the cycle flows on into eternity. Beautiful! Breathtaking reflections!
Those reflections were really stunning, and the light was perfect…..from here the words flowed. It’s so lovely to hear of the pleasure you got from the whole post. Thank you.
A brief meditation, almost liminal, thank you.
Liminal is exactly where I was going, so happy you walked with me 🙂
The photographs are beautiful, Seonaid. I love how the text and images created an overall wonderful post. 🙂
Angie that’s just such a lovely comment, the words flowed from the experience of taking the photos…..it was a magical evening 🙂
That’s wonderful! 🙂
That was a close one – yanking the sky back out of the water must have taken some doing!
Simply unreal, words and pictures.
You’re right, reality had to work really hard…and do you know what….the sky resisted every step of the way 🙂
Emotions by text and picture, wonderfull 🙂
I’m so glad you found the post filled with emotions…..the evening I took the shots I was swept away with them 🙂
Wow, spectacular, Seonaid!
Wonderful comment, thank you….mother nature knows how to put on a great show.
Fabulous watery watery light – perfect!
That’s the perfect description of the wonderful light, thank you 🙂
Lovely shots.
Thank you, it was a beautiful moment in time 🙂
Your wonderful writing and exquisite photos really drew me in, Seonaid. I found I was actually holding my breath until the last sentence was read.
It’s funny you say that, I was holding my breath when I took the photos. The sheer beauty of the light and reflections took me away into another space. Then when I wrote the words I caught myself holding my breath all over again 🙂 wonderful comment, thank you.
Mmm, this is sheer beauty and dream in one. Thank you.
That’s a lovely comment, dream beauty….that’s how it felt 🙂
🙂
Ah Seonaid, you’ve outdone yourself with this one. Beauty.
Oh David, thanks so much, I thought you might like this one 😉
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This is beautiful, both words and accompanying images. I find myself in this same frame of mind while shooting early mornings or late nights. Reality is put on hold for a bit and the music begins. This is when I truly enjoy photography and feel my most creative and expressive. Those little stars and the moods of the ocean will never get old and are the very things that can keep one centered and feeling alive:) Thanks!!
I also shared this on my FB page, /ericephoto 🙂
Thanks so much for the facebook share Eric, and I can only agree with all you have written. When the light is like this I feel excited and inspired…swept away into the beauty of the world….and hyper alive all at once. These reflections were so beautiful I was almost holding my breath with joy 🙂
very nice…but I suppose… 3+4 are software stars ?
No, all natural…I’ve done very little processing on most of these shots. I darkened 3 and four a little to bring out the silky texture of the water….I loved the sparkles 🙂
sounds great – and low aperture of 11 or 16…?
f/20
1/400 sec.
ISO-100
18mm focal length
thank you…dear Seo…have a good Sun…
🙂
I agree with the previous comments: beautiful and inspired!
Thank you, Beth. Lovely feedback like your inspires me to keep creating 🙂
Beautiful 😀
Thanks 🙂
A splendid set of photos and an inspired bit of text! You have made my morning! Thanks!
My pleasure Michael, and in turn you have now made mine 🙂