Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Lessons Learned from Rock Climbing



I remember the first time I went rock climbing...I really didn't know what I was getting into. My girlfriend was dating a climber, and she wanted me to go with her on her first climb. Why not? It seemed like a good way to spend a summer Saturday.

Climbing up the rock face was easy, easier then I thought it would be. My entire focus was on looking up, on listening to my guide as he directed me to my next hand or foothold. I had a guide and I was roped up, so even if I fell, I would be caught.


Reaching the top of the cliff was a triumph. I'd made it. Top of the world. I was a little wobbly from the climb but exhilarated by the height, by the experience. We rested.

Too soon it was time to go back down, and we had to move quickly. There was a storm moving in, and by the look of the black char on the nearby rock ridge, lightening strikes were common.


My guide hooked me back into my harness and then I realized exactly what he expected me to do next. I was supposed to step backwards – over the edge of the cliff and walk down, perpendicular, to the wall. I froze. Step backwards? Over the cliff? Walk perpendicular to the wall? Seriously? Did I mention I have a fear of falling? Sure I was harnessed, but seriously? 

My guide was great; he didn’t get angry or short with me. He gently talked me through my fear. I called “on belay,” and stepped over the cliff, one step at a time.

Once I’d cleared the edge, secure in my harness, and standing on the cliff wall I began to walk down. Halfway down my guide called out for me to let go and just fall. “I’ve got you,” he said.


So I did. Let go. 

The harness, the rope, held me in the air and I was lowered to the ground.

I’ve been thinking a lot, about letting go, about the kind of courage it takes to let go…especially if you don’t know what is going to happen when you do. Let go. Recalling my rock climbing experience is useful as a reminder of how letting go can work.

Lessons Learned:
Letting go is scary. Get a good guide. Someone who knows what they’re doing, someone you trust, someone who will catch you if you fall. Trust yourself; trust your guide, and your preparations. You may fall, you may even get banged up (a little)…but you’ll survive and you’ll have a story to tell.

Reaching your goal (top of the mountain) is obtainable, even easy, if you trust your guide, keep your eye on the goal, and are prepared.


Have a dream, believe the dream, receive the dream.

Wouldn’t you rather risk a fall, risk it all, to live life to the fullest?










I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift, www.terryrowe.photography. Please feel free to share any of my art works with family and friends by forwarding the link. 

If you are on Facebook, please visit my page, tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. Thank you for visiting and viewing my work!


Thursday, April 23, 2015

How to Forget



She had forgotten,
what was possible...
So managed to live a quiet, steady life.

Veil lifted to reveal,
The enormity of possibility overwhelmed.

Standing on the edge of life,
She wondered how to forget, if she could forget,
What she now remembered.






You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.    


Friday, April 17, 2015

Seven (7) Haiku




1.
If you only knew,
how often I think of you.
Could you stay away?

2.
The singing birds of dawn,
find me already awake.
I am fleeing dreams.

3.
The day's duties call,
the dog must go outside.
I wait for the light.

4.
Dream mist enfolds me.
I am caught between two worlds.
Light can set me free.

5.
The cool air of night,
drifts through the open window.
I stand, shivering.

6.
I ask for guidance.
I can hear only silence.
I wait for a sign.

7.
Rain strikes the window.
The bed is warm, my room dark.
You sleep, I must go.




You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.   

Monday, April 13, 2015

Forgotten Dream



In an abandoned farmhouse,
Vacant doorways and shattered windows invite the outside in.

The rooms are empty,
Misty echoes of voices grope along the edges of the walls,
Only ghosts reside in this place now.

In the last room a silvered mirror reveals a simple dress.

Waiting to be worn to one last party,
One more dance,
A forgotten dream.

 ~photograph & prose by Terry Rowe





You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.   

Saturday, April 11, 2015

A Small Prayer

 

bless me,

Father, Mother, God.


for I am a puny thing

and my spirit wearies even as I know I should go on.

 

give me strength and light.

 

let me believe when believing seems foolish.

 

let me dream when the sun is strong.

 

let me live when life seems darkest.

let me be and I will do and do and do....

 

bless me and I will be eternally grateful.






You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.  

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Who Am I?


I will be the river of the dreams around your mind
I will be the essence of all you cannot find

I will be the reason that keeps you warm at night
I will keep you dancing until the dark is bright

I'll hold you close together when all else falls apart
I'll give you strength and loving -
so you may know your heart

Rest easy little dancer
Put your cares away
I'll be right beside you
Some bright and shining day

Know that I do love you
Now and for all time
Close your eyes and see me
in the shadows of your mind

Listen for me closely
I'll not be speaking loud
You'll know me by my answers
Just as you did before

So go about your living
I'll be there before long
Keep your heart believing
And I'll hold you every dawn.

~Terry Atkin Rowe



You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.  


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Rejection

Rejection.

Feeling raw with the latest rejection of an art piece for a gallery show
I thought that I'd look up the definition in the dictionary. Sometimes plain words can soothe a rough edge.

Merriam-Webster's definition of rejection: "to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use." Ok, well that didn't make me feel less pain about it.

The self-talk, which began before I found out my piece had not been accepted, now upped the chatter. The piece wasn't good enough, wasn't good. And worse, maybe the other shows I got into were flukes!

There is no knowing why a piece gets rejected, or for that matter, accepted...jurors usually don't say.

You're either in or you're out. 

It's the same kind of feeling as being in grade school and no one picks you for their team. Or the birthday party you didn't get invited to. Or your crush who ignored you when you gathered up the courage to say hi. Or all the times you waited for him (or her) to call you back, ask you out, like you back. That feeling. 

You tell yourself it's just that one juror, one show, one time. You tell yourself next time. You work harder, pick more carefully, hope again. That someone, some stranger, will see the value in your work, find it worthy. Pick it. Pick you.

Hope. That's a whole other discussion. Hope is such a tease.

So, next time.



You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Flight 93 Memorial


I was in Pennsylvania for a photo-shoot at an 1860s era wool mill and decided to stay over one more day so I could visit the memorial to Flight 93 in Shanksville.

I was at work on Capitol Hill on 9-11-2001. I saw the reports on the first plane hitting the Twin Towers in New York and was watching, live, when the second plane hit.

My staff and I evacuated our building and were on the street when the third plane hit the Pentagon.

We heard the explosion, saw the smoke.

Rumors flew. The Old Executive Office Building had been hit. The bridges out of the city were closed. There were other planes, flying bombs, in coming.

The streets were gridlocked, horns blaring, sirens. People on foot had strange, dazed looks to their faces.

About 20 or so of us took shelter in the apartment of a Congressman. He had no television and barely any furniture. We sat on the floor and listened to the radio. Mostly silent, in shock.

News reports broadcast that Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.










Later, we found out the passengers...learning of the other crashed planes...decided to try and take back the plane...to save themselves, to save others.

On September 11, 2001 United Flight 93 was only 20 minutes flight time from the nation's capital when the passengers and crew of the plane rushed the cockpit in an effort to overpower the hijackers. Flight 93 crashed in a field outside the town of Shanksville in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.
I knew I had to see the ground they had made their own.

Flag, Flight 93 Memorial Plaza

I visited on a cold and bitter day in late March, the wind was knife-cold, winter lingered. The memorial is in a large area of open fields, the peacefulness of fields in direct contrast to the horror of what happened here.

I knew this would be an emotional visit, but I was unprepared for the intensity of the overwhelming sorrow I felt upon viewing that single boulder marking the point of impact.

Point of Impact
I will be forever grateful to the passengers and crew of Flight 93, for their courage, for their compassion, for their willingness to take a risk to save themselves, to save others.

#NeverForget





You can visit me on Facebook at tART - Photography and Art by Terry Rowe,  https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. If you'd like to purchase a print of any of my images please contact me or visit my website, http://terry-rowe.artistwebsites.com/.