One year ago, on July 18, 2019, I shot and shared this 30 second video.
I had posted a couple 30 second videos earlier that month, but this is the one I remember as being something different. It is just a tree among trees, and grass. In the act of simply standing still and filming a tree for 30 seconds something opened up in me. Something was going on here that I needed to pay attention to and explore.
With this July 18 video of a tree I began posting on my YouTube channel and in the description added “A #quietvideo invitation to simply pause for 30 seconds and gaze at a tree. This is the first in a series exploring video making/watching as a contemplative tool.”
“First in a series!” The series and the exploring continues. It has become a vital spiritual exploration.
This video making is a spiritual practice where I am doing much more practicing and learning than accomplishing. This is probably appropriate, but it is sometimes discouraging. As with any spiritual practice, sometimes it is a rich and invigorating practice, and sometimes is feels like nothing is happening, and sometimes it feels like what is happening is I’m making meaningless drivel.
I remain very much the beginner.
Video making continues to be a practice that invites me to open up and be aware – to see what there is to be seen, and hear what there is to be heard, and to ponder my relationship with all that I see and hear.
I hope to explore new territory with this practice in the coming year, but I don’t know what that territory will be. I just need to watch, listen, and wait for it to come. (Oh, and keep my batteries charged.)