A Wu Wei Winter

Dear Diary,

With the constant storms, frigid temperatures, ice and high winds, it is turning out to be another wu wei winter for me.  Wu wei is a Taoist principle I love.  It means "do without doing" or "effortless effort".  For me, it means photographing only what comes to me, usually from a window.

This was the lovely feathers of a large turkey that visited me late yesterday.  I loved the color and pattern of her feathers and I treated the photograph as an abstract painting.  My work at the pond these past seven months has liberated my camera work so that I can have fun with the colors and textures in a whole new way.

Taoism has many principles that one can apply to photography but wu wei is especially suited to a harsh Maine winter.

Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place
Tao te Ching - 3  Lao Tzu