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colorblindstories · 5 days

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Last year in September I went hiking in my home mountains, Retezat National Park. Here are a few words I wrote down in my journal after that experience.

Meeting Jenna again births a desire in me to continue writing, telling stories through photos and written words. Being in the mountains with friends I haven't seen in such a long time, reconnecting with old friends, and new, sharing stories with Marc, Shanley, Jenna, Lelde, Eathan, Lidia. This is freedom, to be able to roam freely in the mountains. I wish to experiment more with hiking and fasting. I felt empowered. Water tastes different with altitude. And being focused on the path, every time it becomes overwhelming, coming back to the breath, remembering.

Breathing through the nose, pranayama is so vital, practicing more and more makes the body more resilient, more prepared for this kind of exposure.

After six months, I return to these words and to the photos, glimpses of past reality captured in time. The desire is still alive, action is needed.

I have been dreaming of these mountains many times in the past months, their magnitude and vastness always bring me a quality of peace and humbleness I haven’t experienced anywhere else.

Hiking up on the rocky trails we shared the journey, the beauty, the stories, the encouragements, the effort, the treasures found in the depths of our backpacks in the shape of homemade peanut-butter and jams and other goodies, the smiles, the fresh air and the celebration after reaching a summit.

After we parted ways with our friends, we returned to our campsite and witnessed an exquisite play of light and clouds as the Sun was swallowed by the sleeping mountain giants.

In this sunset light I met my brother, another moment of peace and shared love for the beauty found in Nature.

We decided that we will go to sleep in our tents and wake up early, hike up to the ridge where we would receive the Sun and the new day.

Waking up early when sleeping under a clear starry sky seems easy, yet the hike turned out to be harder than expected.

It was still worth it. The gift of the moment is priceless.

My brother loves coffee so much that he even carried his moka so we had a nice hot cup of coffee while waiting for the first rays of the Sun to touch the landscape and our cold skin.

It’s really hard to explain with words the sensation I get when I start the day this way. It’s not the first time I have done it and for sure not the last. Every time it’s different and yet it’s already familiar, the moment when the night surrenders to the day, bowing down in front of the light, feels divine. It’s like being in a temple and witnessing a sacred ritual.

With Rumi’s words:

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.

So I will try no more to explain the profoundness of the experience. I let the images speak. Let them move you, let them allure you. Let the mystery speak to you.

#photography #nature #love #transylvania #mountains #landscape #wild #beauty #sacred #sunset #sunrise #friends #ridges

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colorblindstories · 5 months

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Hello again.

It’s autumn in Latvia.

In the North, Nature willingly surrenders and prepares for colder days, for the upcoming winter. As the cold air touches the summer leaves they lose their vivid colors, producing wrinkles, shrinking and eventually surrendering to the final journey, the fall. The winds are inviting the Forests and all its inhabitants to a majestic dance, a ritual of goodbye, a true reminder for everything that needs to pass.

Even the strongest and tallest pine trees are gently bending and bowing in front of the wind as if paying their respect, and then to their positions, standing still and firm. The cracking sound released from their core becomes a song that is calming and humbling at the same time.

The soft moss provides the lushest groundcover I’ve ever seen, almost as if blooming in celebration of the abundant rainwater that’s falling from the sky. The fallen leaves are received with a soft embrace as they slowly dissolve into the fabric of this thick green carpet.

This is the environment where fungi are thriving; with generous amounts of decaying matter available all around, it’s a feast. The most exquisite show-off of colors and shapes, decorating the Forest with their royalty and shining beauty.

I admire those tall trees, outliving human beings by far and being exposed to the elements, to water and wind and to the changing of seasons.

Don’t know for how long my fragile body would resist in those harsh conditions. Being blessed with shelter and food, sitting on muritis, a heated couch I can express my gratitude for this heat that’s coming to me through fire. Another alchemizing power is transforming dead organic matter into heat that can be stored in the mass provided by clay, the earth.

All four elements are present and working together in order to sustain life.

Can I …?

May I …?

I have been hearing this question quite often lately and it makes me wonder.

What or who is this higher authority who’s approval we need to receive before we can perform an action?

I know this person who is asking the question. I understand this one very well, because this one is me.

I’ve been there, desperately seeking out approval to act and to manifest on behalf of my authentic self in the world.

Why?

Because I was afraid.

Afraid of being rejected, ridiculed, punished or excluded.

Afraid of not being good enough, or just enough.

Because I wasn’t sure I am allowed

Because I wasn’t sure I am welcomed.

Because I was waiting for validation.

Because I was living in the realm of right and wrong.

Because I was lacking courage to live in my truth.

Because I was lacking the strength to own my actions and it’s consequences.

Because I thought of others as being more capable, powerful or resourceful and therefore more suitable to take decisions on my behalf. It took me a while to realize and become aware that by doing by this, I am taking a position of submission, surrendering my power to others.

“With responsibility comes great power” – Arno Ilgner wisely said.

Letting the rain wash off layers of dust from my rearview mirrors it slowly becomes clear how a story that once was the only reality I knew, is becoming irrelevant. It becomes clear how I was denying myself the freedom of expression and exploration by living in a limiting construct of other’s beliefs and definitions, trying to shape and sculpt my identity in order to fit into unfamiliar narratives.

Another leaf begins its fall.

I could point fingers and easily find someone to blame maybe my upbringing, education, media or society. Yet I would still be spinning in the same circle of who’s right or wrong, surrendering to a higher authority.

Nobody ends up as a winner in that game.

The world doesn’t need more losers.

So much is already lost.

I feel inspired by Nature’s rhythm to let go of whatever needs to go. To move with the seasons, flowing into transformation. Embracing the cycles.

As GREG KIMURA beautifully puts it in his poem Cargo

“You have gifts.

The world needs your gifts.

You must deliver them.”

I find myself being more and more in awe and admiration with the creative power and the beauty that is in each and every one of us and wants to come alive through our personal truth, through our authentic expressions of life itself.

So I say thank you to all of you who create, who are sharing your gifts, who are inhabiting your own lives.

#photography #nature #fungi #forest #moss #fall #leaves #autumn #dark #transformation #cycles #ice #wind #water #fire #earth #elements #thoughts #quotes #mycelium #mushrooms

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colorblindstories · 1 year

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I went up to the mountains for two days and it felt like two weeks.

There is this place that keeps calling me back again and again, alluring me, moving me.

I call this place „my mountains” although I know that I am more theirs then they could ever be mine.

These mountains have been around for at least 50 million years (just thinking about that gives me goosebumps) and they have been covered by glaciers 20,000 years ago. Now how does that even compare to a lifetime of a human being, even a 300 year old black pine is merely a tiny speck in the timeline.

This is merely a comparison. Something that our minds are very familiar with. We live in comparison all the time. Comparing our past memories to what we experience in the present moment, comparing emotions, sensations, thoughts and so on. Mostly comparing ourselves, our lives with the outside world, with what we see and what is being told us.

Somehow all this comparison makes me feel tired. It doesn’t feel natural. Looking at the natural world and asking myself: Does an apple compare itself to a blackberry? Does a tree compare itself to an ant?

All this made me realize an important truth. We are all different in so many ways, yet interconnected in this tightly woven web, living together on Planet Earth with all the beings existing at the same time, breathing in the same air and witnessing the same Sun, walking on the same Earth.

We are different.

And different doesn’t mean good or bad, it’s just different.

With these thoughts in my mind I keep on walking in the snow that’s still covering most of the mountains, creating some impressive curves and shapes. There is a layer of fresh snow over the ice, that is picked up by the wind creating the most impressive dance on the horizon like a soft white curtain of pure whiteness moving effortlessly. I feel the wind on my face, but weirdly there is no discomfort. I surrender, I allow myself to feel. I can feel the wind and the sunlight at the same time.

I see this place as an oasis. A refuge where mystery resides. I see the mountains as elders, great teachers and wisdom keepers. A great place for wanderers and seekers. Being there in that magical realm for me is a real gift and I humble myself in front of these gentle giants, bow down and say thank you.

#mountains #outdoor #nature #Carpathians #transylvania #romania #winter #snow #hike #wander #questions #comparison #compassion #truth #life #meaning #surrender #mystery #essence #heart

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colorblindstories · 2 years

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Before the heavens were made and all the stars were placed we were one inside God’s own heart. Don’t you remember?

KARUNA

Morning Light

Tuned to love, tuned to each other, tuned to Nature.

It’s all one vibration.

It’s all here, now.

The music, the sounds that bring us together,

Invite us to dive deeper

Closer..closer..closer.

Let us feel the emotions that bond us,

drive us, carry us, elevate us.

Mumush World

It’s more than music, more than a festival.

It’s more than facing our fears and daemons. It’s also about leaving them behind.

Even more, it’s about discovering our gifts and offering them to the service of the community.

I saw Mumushland as a manifestation of the conscious evolutionary process towards a less egocentric world where we embrace and value our interconnectedness.

Together we lift each other up.

And after such a heart-full-filling experience, moving on.

My body can travel great distance

In an instance.

Bits and pieces remain in the embraces

I give and receive

We live together, we travel,

I choose not to surrender,

But to consciously work to collectively remember

The times we used to know how to live on this earth together.

#music #festival #vibration #community #freedom #nature #love #humans #faces #mumush #explore #healing #art #creativity #curiosity #evolution #friendship

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colorblindstories · 2 years

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It's Sunday morning.

We slept in our friend’s home under our warm blankets and sleeping bags. We had coffee and chocolate in the morning.

We are on our way to the border, where refugees are crossing from Ukraine.

Our neighbors, brothers and sisters who are fleeing their country, leaving behind their homes and much more, not knowing if or when they could return.

Fear crept into our lives again. Even though I am not in danger, I feel worried.

Do I feel worried for others or for myself? This is the answer I seek. I feel excited and nervous at the same time. Sometimes it is like a dream, chaotic, confusing and unreal.

How is this possible? That in our modern world, where we are equipped with technologies never seen before, our daily life is supported by AI and society is made up of more and more evolved and conscious human beings,

We are still facing issues like war, injustice, famine, violence?

Who is the bad guy we are fighting so desperately? Is it really the Russians, the tyrants, the Islam we hate and despise? Or is it actually our own flaws that we see magnified in others that upsets us? Because YES. I am greedy too. Selfish so often. Indifferent and ignorant a lot. And it bothers me when I witness my flaws, it bothers me when I see them in others because it reminds me of how much I wish to release these harmful habits. These times are a wake up call. To wake up from this dream. Become awake and aware. Act. Act out of solidarity, love and kindness towards each other. For a collective well-being.

For our freedom.

For our future.

For our children.

Ora unu, luni. Am plecat din Isaccea. A ajuns un val nou de refugiati. Femei, copii, tineri, bătrâni din Ucraina, Mulți dintre ei nu știu unde să meargă Sau ce să facă. Și bacul e incărcat de fiecare dată. E ora cinci luni dimineața la Bucuresti ninge.

E o frumusețe aparte, In felul in care fulgii de zăpadă cad ușor, și se așează ca o pătură albă, care acoperă

toată nedreptatea, abuzul de putere, violența,

tristețea și durerea, ura, mânia și diviziunea..

După întuneric vine lumină. Împreună putem construi o lume mai bună. Unită. Solidară.

Pașnică.

Empatică.

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colorblindstories · 2 years

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A Seed of Kindness Can Sprout in the Harshest Conditions

I really missed taking photos of smiling children. Without any masks.

I guess you already noticed by now: I often find inspiration in Nature and I try to capture, through my photography, landscapes that I find beautiful or peaceful. I search for light paintings that reflect the wonders of the Natural World that we live in. My intention is to bring these places and moments I encounter closer to you and offer you an opportunity to view the world through my eyes and lenses.

The past two years have been surely challenging for all of us in many different ways. If there is one thing I learned in these challenging times it’s to appreciate even more everything and everyone that’s part of the experiences I receive in my life.

Today I invite you on a different journey, because quite often I find inspiration in people, in the work they do, in the impact they have on their environment and community. This is why I choose to share this particular story.

It’s a story about bravery, determination, altruism, faith, perseverance and hard work.

Dallas is an impoverished and underprivileged neighborhood in Vulcan, an ex-coalmining town in the Jiu-Valley, Romania where the living is not easy. For most of the families living there, covid or not, life is a challenge anyway and every day. With low incomes, lack of proper housing, health-care services, education and widespread violent behavior, addiction, imagine the life of a child growing up under these conditions.

Nonetheless, these children are capable of experiencing pure joy even upon the smallest acts of kindness, attention, presence and compassion manifested towards them. Every small act of compassion can be a major shift in their lives. It can give them the hope they need. Hope that they too have a chance for a better life.

We witnessed a true moment of hope and inspiration when the football field in Dallas was transformed, in the matter of hours, into an unfamiliar scene that attracted the locals, kids and adults alike.

That day a unique bouldering competition took place in Dallas and all the kids were invited to partake in this experience they will most probably never forget.

All this was possible thanks to the magic of Andrea @andreabasecamp, a modern mobile climbing wall attached to a truck.

Andrea is a tiny home on wheels inhabited by two extraordinary human beings.

The kind and passionate Nina Caprez, accomplished climber and the witty Jeremy Bernard, creative explorer, professional photographer.

Their mission is to bring climbing as an experience to the most remote places in the world.

Nina and Jeremy spent 10 days in the Jiu-Valley, climbing with the kids, sharing stories and offering learning experiences.

But how did Andrea arrive there?

This is where Fără Limite comes into picture. A climbing gym and education center established in Vulcan, with the mission to support kids, through their development, guiding them towards their potential.

The sport programs they provide, besides the direct health benefits, aid the development of fundamental life skills that many of the kids didn’t receive anywhere else. Bouldering can help build skills like problem solving, perseverance, focus and lead climbing can help overcome fear, build self-confidence, and dissolve limitations. It can teach them to have goals and if they work hard and believe in themselves they are more than capable of reaching those goals.

My goal was to share this story with you. To bring you this genuine childlike joy that can happen when a few brave individuals come together in the same spirit to share some of their resources with the less privileged. This is truly giving from the heart.

I believe we could all use a little bit more joy and kindness in our lives, don’t you think? We don’t need to do extraordinary things to make someone’s day just a little bit better. It can be as simple as a smile, some attention, a conversation, a favor, a small gift, a hug or saying thank you.

Where will you spread your seeds of kindness?

“Your presence is the most precious gift you can give to another human being.”

Marshall B. Rosenberg

#rockclimbing #bouldering #gym #andreabasecamp #Adventure #photography #ninacaprez #jeremybernard #faralimite #catarat #children #joy #kindness #social

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colorblindstories · 6 years

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#Fagaras #mountains #romania #transylvania #carpathians #landscape #clouds #hdr #people #portratits #nature #outdoor #travel #Adventure #photography #story #colorblindstories

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colorblindstories · 6 years

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Givet, Maredsous, Dinant & a small family reunion

#givet #france #belgium #Street Photography #portrait #family #light #summer #sunshine #london #beagle #dog #puppy

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colorblindstories · 6 years

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#climbing #multipitch #rockclimbing #outdoor #travel #transylvania #rural #nature #adventure #challange #landscape #summer

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colorblindstories · 6 years

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I found that big cities are like ant colonies. Everything is interconnected. Ants always fascinated me. How can they build such magnificent structures without having a plan and some rules, well it seems that they can communicate without pronouncing a word. They can work and live together with great discipline. This is great proof of an intelligence that humans either never possessed, or didn’t achieve yet.

But we have to admit that cities come pretty close to this. In a thriving city everything has to work together. If a bus or train doesn’t arrive on time the baker won’t be able start making bread in time, this would result in a lot of hungry people who won’t be able to do their jobs right. It’s like a domino chain, if one falls everything falls..it would be chaos.

And the most beautiful thing I saw during these 3 days I’ve spent in this big city, is the vibrant life of a neighborhood. The power and beauty of small communities. I believe this is the main foundation for anything bigger.