Go For a Walk - Guest Blog by Shaun Terhune
Photo by Shaun Terhune Fine Art Photography
Lord, give me words for the hurting people in our country. Those who are hurting because they’re divided from their friends. Those who are hurting because of prejudice. Those who are hurting because their lives have been disrupted or their livelihoods have been assailed or destroyed. Those who’re hurting because they wear a uniform, or because they look different. Those who’re hurting because they don’t understand. I know this will pass. When I lay in a mountain field and listen to the bees pollinating the flowers around my face, the flowers I hope the bears may come out and munch on tonight, I know this will pass. Our country seems in turmoil, and as someone who spends most of my time outside photographing the wild things, I sometimes ask myself what I bring to the table in terms of anything that really MATTERS. Do these pictures matter? Whether they do or not, it occurred to me tonight to encourage all of you, my friends, to go for a walk in the woods. It is something I do every day, and I think my heart is lighter and stronger because of it. Not because I get to be willfully indifferent to the hurt and grief in the world, but because it steadies me, it reminds me of the magnificence of the natural world, that it was made by someone whose name is Love, that we came FROM the earth a long time ago and FROM the Lover. We’re endowed with love and it WILL unite us again. We’ll heal - we always have.
Eventually, the bears did come out of the forest to feed on the flowers tonight. On the hilltop beyond, the lupines bloomed, the bees buzzed as they went about their business, and I was overcome with peace. I want peace for us all. We will all do many things to try to make the world a better place. Just one thing for me: go for a walk in the woods.
Shaun Terhune
Photographer
Landscapes | Wildlife | Workshops
