Circle of Life
Quote de jour
“We think of things in a straight line: birth-life-death. That’s not really how it works. You take those ends and you bend it into a circle so it’s birth-life-death-REbirth. So you have to be prepared when you lose something – when you go through a divorce, when your mother dies, when you lose your house you have to understand that nature has it no other way. There is a rebirth. The death is painful. It doesn’t change the pain of the death. But you gotta stay awake and stay focused for what’s the rebirth that God is about to offer you.”
~Will Smith
This quote brings our week's theme "What goes around comes around" full circle. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, it's hard to deny the circular nature of life. What goes up, must come down and all that. I believe from every loss, there is gain. There is growth if you allow yourself to embrace the loss, and not hold on to what could have been.
Late yesterday afternoon I went to a local cemetery to photograph my favorite stone angels.
The light piercing the darkening clouds was nothing short of glorious. I noticed a car trailing me. There were no other visitors and the gates were about to close. The driver rolled down his window and asked in a tone reserved for difficult children and the psychotic, "I'm the manager. What are you taking pictures of?"
It's not the first time a cemetery worker thinks I'm a weirdo.
"You don't get many cemetery buffs?" I said in all innocence.
"No." He shot me a "Get out of Dodge" look. I half expect to see a shotgun.
"I love the angels," I said.
He's not convinced. I ramble on about light and form and context. I see beauty. He sees morbidity. What do you see?
"It's not about the graves. It's an artistic thing."
"We're closing."
He's still looking at me as if I'm related to Nosferatu and escorts me out.
Undaunted, I stop by the pet cemetery, smile at this sign and call it a day.
“We think of things in a straight line: birth-life-death. That’s not really how it works. You take those ends and you bend it into a circle so it’s birth-life-death-REbirth. So you have to be prepared when you lose something – when you go through a divorce, when your mother dies, when you lose your house you have to understand that nature has it no other way. There is a rebirth. The death is painful. It doesn’t change the pain of the death. But you gotta stay awake and stay focused for what’s the rebirth that God is about to offer you.”
~Will Smith
This quote brings our week's theme "What goes around comes around" full circle. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, it's hard to deny the circular nature of life. What goes up, must come down and all that. I believe from every loss, there is gain. There is growth if you allow yourself to embrace the loss, and not hold on to what could have been.
Late yesterday afternoon I went to a local cemetery to photograph my favorite stone angels.
The light piercing the darkening clouds was nothing short of glorious. I noticed a car trailing me. There were no other visitors and the gates were about to close. The driver rolled down his window and asked in a tone reserved for difficult children and the psychotic, "I'm the manager. What are you taking pictures of?"
It's not the first time a cemetery worker thinks I'm a weirdo.
"You don't get many cemetery buffs?" I said in all innocence.
"No." He shot me a "Get out of Dodge" look. I half expect to see a shotgun.
"I love the angels," I said.
He's not convinced. I ramble on about light and form and context. I see beauty. He sees morbidity. What do you see?
"It's not about the graves. It's an artistic thing."
"We're closing."
He's still looking at me as if I'm related to Nosferatu and escorts me out.
Undaunted, I stop by the pet cemetery, smile at this sign and call it a day.
Posted by Layla Morgan Wilde at 2/19/2010 12:22 PM 
Categories: Westchester County, Photography, Spirituality
Tags: snow angel Stone angel Will Smith circle of life
Categories: Westchester County, Photography, Spirituality
Tags: snow angel Stone angel Will Smith circle of life
I love this. It's worth confrontation in the name of art.
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I love these stone angels, permanent suggestions, hints that angels are watching us.
I think if you were south of the Mason Dixon line, you'd have a genuine worry about someone toting a shotgun and shoving it near your face. That happened to me in N. Carolina, when a guy and I were trying to camp at a private campground and couldn't find the office. The manager drove by in his golf cart and shoved a shot gun right in our face.
Your wonderful theme of death and rebirth is beautiful. The large Lily in the bouquet hubs bought me had a bud. The bud was opening.
And last night...
The bud popped. Not just popped, but birthed itself. And so...
The already bloomed Lily, which had been wilting, is moribund.
Everpresent theme. Yes, we must accept the rebirth as part of the life, rather than looking at the death as finality.
Frankly, the manager is a tad weird. People stop by cemeteries all the time, to drop flowers, weep, talk, write, photograph.
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The lily birth must have inspired. Take a photo.
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I did take a lovely photo, but the camera is recharging now. I've taken a bunch that I've not put on the 'puter yet, but will do so this weekend.
I have never seen such a huge lily before. Mao was eating some of the smaller lillies. I keep wet sponges lining the sink so he can't sneak on his tiny cat paws and munch, but he did managed to sneak in when the sponges dried.
I researched Lillies. not all are fatal ro people and animals.
He ate Morning Glory seeds a year ago when Son brought them home, and Mao was none the worse for wear.
Thank you for your lovely inspirations.
Go Canada!
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Hey, Layla,
There is nothing one can do against a bureaucratic mind except extend your middle finger! Even that won'd do any good except maybe make you feel a little better!
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LOL I would, but I don't want to get kicked out of a cemetery. I've already alienated the caretaker of another cemetery!
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hello dear Layla... your pictures and stories always captivate me... i love these angels too... that guy was a kook... LOL.... i used to love to go to cemetaries too....it's just a kind of peaceful place to sit and think and talk to old friends.....
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I use to take a lot of photographs in cemeteries.I think you capture both the sadness and beauty on the ground, and the eternity in the sky and hope in the sky.
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Thanks, Sandman. I find inspiration in old cemeteries.
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Sounds like you might've run into the angel of Death himself. There's an old legend that says if you take snapshots of their graves it brings the dead back to life. I guess he was just worried.
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I take extra precautions when I tred in their terrain.
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