I’ve been on many paths. Inner as well as outer. Perhaps they are though one and the same…

This photograph is from a time when I was a nomad. Having left Denmark, the country of my origin, following an inner compass rose I couldn’t understand or make sense of, nevertheless I trusted it. And on the days I didn’t trust it, I still chose to, regardless. It was a fulltime dedication and commitment to Life and deep heart over the often fearful, limited and conditioned programming our minds are susceptible to. The inner compass rose was clear even though it didn’t come with neither a destination, explanation or a manual. It was always a step into the unknown, yet something seemed to know. And although the path at times was both deeply challenging, tough and often seemingly not even there, certain things would fall into place, almost mysteriously and in those moments there was a sense of expanded awareness and effortlessness, despite. In those moments, the path and I was one and the same.

The poem below was originally written in 2014, sitting alongside this photograph from a two month hiking trip of approximately 400 km through the desert of Israel, from Dimona to Eilat in 2012. I was no longer quite the nomad I had been, being on my second year of living in Ireland which also is from where I write these words today, ten years later. I didn’t plan this long walk through the desert, I was only there on a shorter visit. As I was sitting on a mountain top on a day walk close to Eilat, I sensed the subtle whispering I had come to know so very well from many times before. Sensed it, because it doesn’t come as a loud voice in my ear, more a sense of a pull and call which might turn into words my mind can understand. What was clear was; the desert was calling and I felt such an urge to walk and walk. And so I did. (Apart from a little sidetrip to a horse hospital to have my inflamed blisters nursed and time to recover in the homes of extraordinary trail angels, but that’s a story for another time.) Three weeks turned into two unforgettable months in the roar of the still.

Today the poem resurfaced for my inner eye along with the photograph from Big Sur. Two paths joining up, along with hundreds of other paths. Doing what they always have done and will continue to do; being one path leading home. Inner as well as outer.

The Path

There are times, we know the path
Yet dare not walk it.
Other times we don’t know the path
But walk it anyway.
At times there is no path
So, we create it, as we walk.
And then there are moments beyond time
Where the path dissolves
And in humble stillness, quiet vulnerability and fierce honesty
We grow wings
Soaring on timeless mysterious winds…

~

The image above is available as an archival print (15cm x 21cm) in a handmade sustainable oak frame size 23cm x 29cm w/ acid free mount and art-glass. Sourced from independent Irish businesses. Framing and packaging in my home in the Burren, Co. Clare. For further info please click here.
It is also as an archival print only:
A4: 20cm x 30cm
A3: 30cm x 40 cm

abstract photography Big Sur Co. Clare ecofriendly photography Hanne T. Fisker Photography Ireland Monochrome nature photography poetry The Path