Connectivity
The nature of the connection forged between humans and animals is difficult to define. Although both mammal, our minds are wired differently. Still, there are many fundamentals of the heart that are similar. Sometimes, one can establish a rapport that has its own, undefinable language, its own emotional fluidity.
It is more than mere co-existence.
Self portrait with Picasso, my seal-point Siamese. 2007.
It is more than mere co-existence.
Self portrait with Picasso, my seal-point Siamese. 2007.
Nurture
"Mothers' arms are made of tenderness,
and sweet sleep blesses the child who lies therein."
-- Victor Hugo
Focus
Climbing is a strange combination of things. It involves the choreography of dance, the dexterity of gymnastics, the power of weights and the cardiovascular demands of aerobic fitness. In addition, there is the mental component; one must be utterly focused, utterly committed and in mastery of any fear or self-doubt.
Many wrongly assume that motivation is provided by the so-called 'adrenalin rush'. This is entirely erroneous. If epinephrine coursing through your veins is what you are after, go bungee-jumping, or some other mindless, 'low-skill/high scare' activity.
No, climbing (at least sport climbing, anyway) is quintessentially about the movement. About the harmonious and powerful synchronisation of mind and body in order to unlock complex sequences of physical flow.
It can be both beautiful to perform, and to observe.
Bleached bones
A great, lonely skeleton, white-bleached by the sun stands sentinel on the high rocky slopes of an exposed mountainside. Once, these slopes were covered with forests of Ceder trees. Climate change, indiscriminate logging and man-caused fire have rendered the population a tiny fraction of what it once was.The landscape is strewn with these stark reminders of our own mortality, and our impact as humans even in this wild place.
Beauty there is in death even, and textured white timber reaches up to touch a vast, cold sky.
Liquid Reflections
Motes of liquid light
reflect the setting sun and
float your mind to wander with
a thousand journeys past and
a thousand still to come.
Natalia
Cape Town singer-songwriter Natalia, live at the Independent Armchair Theatre, Observatory.
December 2007.
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