Seeing the world anew: how my camera opened the eyes of my heart
Written on January 24, 2024 in Bali, Indonesia
I walk my dogs twice a day and there is a path close to my home that I particularly enjoy. It’s a paved road lined with trees providing comforting shadow, as well as bushes and flowers. At the end there is a beautiful cliff side, overlooking the vast Indian ocean. The reason why I love this path so much, is because I feel the beauty and harmony of nature to be very present there. The trees stand wide and tall, there is always at least one butterfly fluttering around and the view from the cliff is just breath taking. Looking around and seeing the beauty of nature brings me so much joy. It’s my favourite way to start or end the day.
The other day when I was standing on top of the cliff, I realised I hadn’t truly seen all the beings and things I usually really appreciate. I was so stuck in my mind, in the whirlwind of racing thoughts and worries, that I had forgotten to look around, to truly see and feel the trees and bugs and flowers. I had walked all the way to the cliff and yes, my eyes had perceived my surroundings (or else I would have bumped into a tree of fallen of the cliff), but I hadn’t truly seen them. I realised in that moment that I had missed out on the joy and love I usually feel when I actively notice and appreciate the beauty of this world.
I feel like most of us spend our days without truly seeing the vastness and beauty of all creation. We run from x to z, we have a million things to do and another million things going around in our head. We walk the dog and don’t notice all the different kind of flowers beaming their beauty at us, we make a cup of coffee in the morning and don’t notice a ray of sun light coming through the window, we drive the car to work and don’t notice the different landscapes passing us by. It’s not that we have our eyes closed, we are looking, but we are not seeing.
Just in that moment on the cliff, I remembered the specific time in my life when I started to look around and truly notice the beauty of this world. When I decided to make photography my full time career, I wanted to built my portfolio and shoot as much as possible. I started connecting with models and brands and magically I started to see perfect shoot locations that I had never noticed before. It wasn’t that I took out my bike and specifically went looking for beautiful backdrops, it just sort of happened that I suddenly saw the beauty of places that I had been to a million times before. It was like I had just put on a special kind of glasses, that enhanced how I perceived and saw the world: more vividly, with more colour, and like everything just seemed to glow with something that was not entirely of this world.
It was the magic of true beauty.
I think beauty is incredibly important and truly enhances our lives. And when I say beauty, I don’t mean anything related to make-up, the size of our body or the smoothness of our skin. That to me is not beauty (more on that in another blog). True beauty, just as joy, creativity, love, peace, is a matter of the heart. True beauty is an eternal and everlasting essence, directly connected to Source/God. True beauty activates our senses and helps us remember the sacredness of all beings and all things. When we feel/see and appreciate true beauty, it opens up our hearts and raises our frequency to a higher state of love. True Beauty is a portal to the Divine.
That is the first thing photography thought me. To open my eyes. Not the ones I use for looking, the ones that tell me if something is blue or yellow, big or small, but the eyes that see the true beauty and magic of this world. For that activation I am forever grateful, as it helped me to appreciate the simplicity of beauty and of life itself. There are days I drive around on my bike and I look at all the beautiful trees, plants and flowers and I feel tears stream down my face. Each time I watch the sunset my heart makes a little jump when the sky turns orange and yellow. I can’t wipe the smile of my face feeling so alive and connected to Earth and all beings around me, every time I see something beautiful. Heaven is no longer an imaginable, far-away place, but right here, all around me, available when I open the eyes of my heart.
So I invite you, to play pretend for a while and imagine you are creating a photo book (or actually make one, why not!). This book will be magnificent and full of beauty. Don’t let perfectionism swallow you up. Don’t listen to any thoughts saying ‘you are not a photographer’ or ‘you don’t have an eye for it’. The creation of this book will act as a portal for you, to bring Heaven down on Earth. By actively ‘location scouting’, the eyes of your heart will awaken from slumber and you’ll start noticing beauty all around you. Don’t use your mind in this process, but consult your heart, as only through your heart you will be able to feel the beauty, sacredness and divinity of all that there is.
