beauty, dark, food, grace, gratitude, humanism, light, miracle, muse, mystical, Native Alaskan, nature, photograph, practice, religion, transcendentalism, Walt Whitman



“…to me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle. Every inch of space is a miracle…” -Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman’s Poem of Perfect Miracles appreciates the miracles in everything. The light, the dark, the space can refer to something different to everyone depending on experience, beliefs, and perspective. I’ve come to realize that nature is my muse and the place where I recognize the light, the dark, and the miracles. My early years were very grounded and earthy and rhythmically natural and yet there was the ever present and mystical influence of Native Alaskan culture. Whitman’s work walked the line between humanism and transcendentalism. He was practical and real and embraced all religions equally while not being a believer or follower of a particular one. I have a lot of that in me and I take a lot of pictures of food (where is this going, you ask?).

If you have a meal with me or follow me on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter, you are painfully aware of my constant need to document my plate before consumption. I recently said (to an exasperated dinner companion) that my meal tastes better if I’ve taken a photograph of it first. At the time, I was making a joke but then I started to think about this idea more. And I actually wasn’t kidding. My meal does taste better because I am present with all the flavors and textures AFTER I snap a quick photo of it with my phone.

The act of stopping to take a picture and capturing the beauty of the food is an act of GRATITUDE. It really just occurred to me today. It’s been my unconscious way of saying Grace before meals. Praying before meals was not a habit I grew up with but I was certainly taught, through example and lifestyle, to be grateful to the earth for the food I was consuming. Respect and appreciation for hunters and fishermen was automatic and celebrated. Native Alaskan culture is deep in respect and gratitude toward the earth and it’s resources. These were my influences during childhood and it shines through much more than I’ve realized. It’s just so beautiful that gratitude can come through no matter the method, strategy, practice, belief system, faith, deity…how do you put practical gratitude into practice on a daily basis?