Communing with The Divine

 Coming  to Puerto Rico has been a homecoming for my tribal soul. Becoming  accepted into a community of passionately compassionate beings, whose  humanity has not been entirely tainted by the mad dream of a fully  individualized and digitalized society, has reminded me how to be truly  rooted in the community I live in and in the ground I stand on. Being  fed rice and Bananas by my neighbors after the devastation of Hurricane  Maria has left an indelible mark on me and connected me irrevocably with  this place. 

Here on this  island, I can still walk up to a tree and receive sustenance. I can make  rope from the tough fibers of a vine or a coconut's husk. I can build a  temporary shelter on the beach from the bamboo and palm fronds laying  about. I can look up at the night sky and see the Milky Way and notice  around which point on the horizon we are spinning. I understand the planet through direct experience rather than academic explanation.  Instead of an observer, I feel myself as part of it. 

By "Communing," I mean to become one through focused contemplation.

I once heard Jane Goodall describe Chimpanzees sitting still for long  periods of time in front of a waterfall as if in prayer. Even for a primate, who does not have words like "God" or "spiritually," the  divinity of nature is self-evident in such a life-giving place of  abundance. For us, in our lost and confused state, it takes an  awakening, an effort of consciousness to reconnect with the grace, the  generosity, and the Divinity of the planet who nurtures and feeds us. 

I hope that with my images, I can reawakening the viewer's connection to  nature and to the thousand acts of kindness we receive daily from our  earth. It's not the high rent or the gas prices that make us poor. It's  the disconnect from our roots. So please come home.