Wednesday, December 24, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Moab, Utah/Colorado River/November 12, 2006/10:14:11 AM

Somewhere between the heaven
And Earth,
The murky borders of eternity
Dissolve into perfection---
Places so ephemeral
They cannot be possessed,
Yet real enough to confound us,
Into loving.
                                                                Christopher Di Lascia

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter Solstice



                      Potala Palace/May 23, 2006

Days begin and end in the dead of night.
They are not shaped long, in the manner of things which lead to end---
arrow, road, man's life on earth. They are shaped round, in the manner
of things eternal and stable---sun, world, God.
Civilization tries to persuade us we are going towards something,
a distant goal. We have forgotten that our only goal is to live,
to live each and every day, and that if we live each and every day,
our true goal is achieved. 
All civilized people see the day beginning at dawn or a little after or a long time after
or whatever time their work begins; this they lengthed according to their work,
during what they call 'all day long'; and end it when they close their eyes. 
It is they who say the days are long.
On the contrary, the days are round.
Jean Giono, 'Rondeur des Jours' (1943)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

TAKE COURAGE













Merced River/Vernal Falls/John Muir Trail/Yosemite Valley

Do you think you can take the world and improve it?
I do not think it can be done.
The world is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to help it, you will lose it.
Lao Tzu

Native cultures evoke a sense of spirituality within me when I encounter them. Indigenous people have something more than a shared language, I think it is a connection to each other, the earth, and, by extention--me. When we currently discuss the environment, ways in which we have harmed it, and ways in which we believe we can fix it, I feel a sense of frustration and hopelessness at the enormity of the task. I think this stems from the premise that the environment is something out there as opposed to something in here, in me. Thinking about the inclusive nature of things and the idea that Shakespeare expressed when he said, "We are nature too." I am left with a sense of well being that seems so natural to my indigenous friends. When I consider my physical being and appreciate the impermanence of it, the cycle of life, the long and short of it, the up and down of it, the happy and sad of it, I am free to take all the rhetoric of the debate into a completely different and, to me, wholly understandable place. I've only to look within to find the answers. John Muir's poignant statement about 'going out' captures this for me.

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded
to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found,
was really going in.

In Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland I found the John Muir Museum. Here was the birthplace of our naturalist. Wandering through his house I came across his 'going out' quote. I felt an immediate sense of connection and reconnection to this man. It was a deja vu experience having walked the John Muir Trail up out of Yosemite Valley as an awestruck young man and many times later. Both East Lothian and Yosemite connect me to something spiritual and to myself. I was deeply moved to find Muir in both. Standing in the little museum on Dunbar's High Street I found myself on the top of Vernal Falls, feeling the rush of air as it was moved by the swift falling waters of the Merced River. Were we not separated by a mere century, Muir and I could have been going out together. Despite this the feeling of connection was complete for me. I copied the quote and continued to explore the surrounding countryside where nature was (I am) so accessible.
There is an old Sioux Indian saying that best summarizes how I feel about all of this.

          Take courage, the earth is all that lasts.


Sunday, December 7, 2008

ONENESS

While traveling in Tibet in May of 2006 I took this photo on a hike up to the Potala Palace. It is one of my favorite images from this trip and reminds me of this writing I did earlier that year in January.

Everything we say or do connects us to every other being.

Words and actions ripple out across the pond touching everything and everyone.

Everything and everyone becomes one. Is one.

This oneness clarifies, signifies and relieves.

It ushers forth thoughts that are new and exciting.

Revealing in us the connection that allows true love and understanding.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Portrait Show

LARRY CARLSON PORTRAITS
OPENING PARTY SATURDAY DEC. 20th
3 to 6PM
OK! So after all these years I've finally decided to actually show my work. Friends and family have always been encouraging me to do this and now I am!  I have 14 portraits and
I am enlarging these fairly small, sensitive drawings to a common/consistent height of 2 feet. They should really look great hanging on the walls of Pierre's Restaurant in Bridgehampton, NY. The showing will run from December 17th to February 4th. Another way to connect. This time with my art. 

Engaging/Connecting

Our words, our deeds, our very presence in the world, create and leave impressions in the minds of others just as a writer makes impressions with his pen on paper, the painter with his brush on canvas, the potter with his fingers in clay. The human world is like a vast musical instrument on which we simultaneously play our part while listening to the composition of others. Our life is a story being continuously related to others through every detail of our being: facial expressions, body language, clothes, inflections of speech---whether we like it or not. We cannot choose whether to engage with the world, only how to.
Stephen Batchelor

Traveling Easy

I hear it said by people that traveling is a hassle, but I find it easy. I got up out of bed the other day in Bridgehampton, made sure I had the passport, reading glasses, etc., and drove my car to the bus station. I found my friend Alice there and was happy to travel with her to the city. She was going to meet her son Peter and run a few errands before returning home. I was going to Grindelwald, Switzerland. We parted at 40th Street and Lexington Avenue. I took the subway south to my loft. I stopped on the way to get some hiking boots at Eastern Mountain Sports. A couple of blocks later I went into the Apple Store to get a power cord for my laptop so I could write this when I got to my hotel. Then I walked another half a block to my loft, picked up my Patagonia fleece, answered the phone from the driver who said my car service had arrived, went downstairs, entered the car, went to the airport, checked-in with only my carry-on bag (traveling easy requires a minimum of luggage), flew to Zurich, boarded a train in the airport, went clickety-clack over the Swiss countryside up into the Alps, admired the precision of everything Swiss, including the exact timing of the trains entering and leaving the stations, stepped off the train into a picture, postcard setting below the Eiger and Wetterhorn Mountains, walked two blocks to my hotel, and met my friends for dinner. Just sitting here after a few days hiking and still marveling at the ease of it all. After tomorrow I’m going to take a train to Lugano, meet my friend Mark and spend three weeks in Italy. This will happen right after the hotel delivers my laundry. I only brought enough clothing for just a few days. Traveling easy means traveling light and wearing what I have lightly including my life.
Grindelwald, Switzerland
September 21, 2008