That Tap on Your Shoulder
photograph by Cherie Westmoreland
by Cherie Westmoreland
“Spirit stands still for the photographer it has chosen.” - Minor White
Photography is a way of experiencing my life and the world … a doorway, an invitation, a seduction, a gateway to attention and presence. Over the years, I've come to understand that the gifts of photography are not so much about what I produce, but about my response to an invitation. I continue to learn to trust the mystery of what is asking for my attention. And in those moments of grace, I touch into the profound interconnection of all living things, into which I am woven. Photography was and is my first and primary form of meditation practice.
There is always the opportunity to step out of those familiar, perhaps automatic and unconscious frames of reference and ask, "What is being revealed to me? Where is the invitation to engage with this subject matter in a fresh and new way?" if we can view photography as responding to an invitation and receiving – rather than shooting and taking, so much more is available to us. We can be surprised by what is revealed.
And guess what? It is happening all the time! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, those moments of noticing, of being drawn in, of wanting to “snap a photo”, of being stopped – even for a second – each of these is an invitation and a moment of grace. And each invitation is particular to you. Each is a glorious opportunity to explore, be curious, wonder, and be surprised. How quickly we can pass over these moments of grace in our multi-tasking, racing world.
But here is the good news. Technology has provided us with the perfect, totally accessible, with-us-all-the-time contemplative tool – our cell phones! I acknowledge it takes some time to put the demanding part of the phone aside, but I invite you to explore the possibility that your phone is your most available contemplative tool.
Recently, at a Silence of the Contemplative Eye retreat I facilitated, retreatants placed their cell phones on the altar table in the centre of the room. We blessed our phones as we began exploring this expanded and new relationship with our cell phones (and everyone turned notifications off!) And of course, what we were also practicing was inhabiting silence, slowing down, and being present.
So, this is an invitation to you to see your cell phone in a radically different way; to try a contemplative photographic practice for a week using your cellphone. As Christine Valters-Paintner says, “In cultivating photography as a contemplative practice, the camera becomes a way to develop our ability to see more deeply, clearly, and truly, beneath the surface realities of the world around us and into the sacred presence shimmering in the world.”
And what is the practice? Notice what you are already noticing. But instead of judging, ignoring, skipping over, grabbing a quick photo and rushing off – you stop – you say yes to the invitation, and you begin to explore using your phone’s camera. Notice how often something is alive in you and is asking you to give it your attention. Notice how the world is constantly inviting you into relationship with it. Notice how often the world is tapping you on the shoulder.
The Mystery is the grace of that tap on your shoulder – that is meant just for you.
Cherie Westmoreland
is an artist with a particular focus on contemplative photography and writing. She has explored and experienced a variety of faith traditions and finds the natural world to be her most potent teacher of heart and spirit. She has completed the Pacific Jubilee SoulGuiding and SoulMentoring programs, and brings a quiet and grounded presence to her practice of spiritual accompaniment. Cherie is a leader of contemplative and silent retreats.
