Imagination's Strange Infinite Attractors

“The power of imagination makes us infinite. ”
— John Muir

Yet, the gravity of society pulls upon our strings bringing us back to the finite world.  For it is work and the restless band of opportunity, who keep hammering on our doors, which wakes us from our slumber in the infinite expanse of playful thought.  A canyon is what we need.  A gorge of great depth where we can build a little campfire to keep warm as night takes the place of day.

Saundersfoot

Saundersfoot

How does one imagine infinity when one is finite? There have been times when I have been infinite, or, at least, felt so, brimming in a flux of energy that was boundless. I know, at that time, I existed in the limitless nature of being, but for the life of me, I can't imagine it. 

My kingdom for a cup of magic mushroom tea and the warm wash of childish laughter.

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Along The Coast Of Infinity

“We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone. ”
— William Shakespeare

It starts as a whisper, music that is almost inaudible.  Like a snake it glides into the realm we have built.  A dark energy that permeates our world of light filling in the blank stares crowding the street.  We wish and then we die and all the while, the sound of silence buries time in a solemn field filled with poets and drunkards who were born too soon.

 

Parsonsquarry Bay

Parsonsquarry Bay

On the many roads of our storied past lay the ruins of well-intentioned dreams. Time, with its perpetual force, pounds the matter back to whence it began, disemboweling history and spilling the remains into the eternal river. I suppose, it is our responsibility to continue this seemingly futile task of making sand castles along the coast of infinity.

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Waiting For Goat

“We should turn resolutely towards Nature.
”
— Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

This is a Trover photo post from yet another project I am working on.  This is just 5 minutes from my apartment which is more or less like the buildings in the background.  This used to be a quaint village where the goats would be slaughtered for the restaurant and meat which is sold out front.  Now...

The project won't be as good as Waiting For Godot, but it will be a tragicomedy.  It is a nonfiction story, after all, and the subject matter is about humanity.

A tragicomedy not unlike humanity, Waiting for Godot takes only two acts to complete. Humanity's version, which is much longer, is still playing...probably, not for much longer.

Trover Photo Post

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Free Choice In Hell

“Why can’t I just eat my waffle? ”
— Barack Obama

 

I don't have very good organizational skills and to compound this problem, I have the attention span of a 5-year-old - yes, I realize there is a connection.   It is probably the reason I have to work on many projects simultaneously.  I read somewhere that this sort of multitasking is counterproductive, at least in terms of the speed in which the project is finished.  However, I don't really have a choice, besides, I think it helps my creativity.  

Anyways, here is a photo post from an upcoming project.  I live in China and some friends of mine were on business in Shanghai.  So, I met them there and we went on a week-long road trip - more on that later.  The aim of the trip was to go to Da Fen 大芬 Art Village and find someone who could paint a painting with us in it.  I don't know, your guess is as good as mine.  More on that later.

Da Fen Art Village Studio

The day was turning from surreal to just plain WTF! There were hundreds, if not thousands, of studio/shops where you could find copies of paintings ranging from classical to impressionist. In this shop, there was a crying Barack Obama on the wall. 

I don't know, your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps, he sees a vision of the future where he must choose his successor for president, sort of like having the choice between developing brain cancer or life as a poodle. 

Trover Photo Link

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Celtic Tanks

“The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You’ve got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances. ”
— Patrick Warburton
Green Bridge

Green Bridge

Fear crawls under your skin.  We have all felt it; a snake at the base of the spine, a tremor in your stomach, a seed in your mind, it wants to grow.  It wants to take root.  It  wants you to be afraid.  But, you can't let it.  If you want to live in the world of the ancients and drink the water that passed through their souls, you have to bare your teeth and sneer at the elements.  And, when someone tells you to play it safe, tell them what Lou Reed said: "You can all go take a fucking walk"...Live on the Wild Side...Live until you die.

Know Thy Heart

“Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon’s verge. ”
— Lord Byron

We all hear the phrase "follow your heart".  But really, what the hell does it mean?

If I truly followed my heart, I would be dead or stuck in some horrible prison somewhere.  We are animals with both reason and logic and our whole life is spent navigating between these two unruly masters who are actually governing what we do on a day to day basis.  Oh, and the fact that we are biologically hardwired.

It was recently pointed out to me that we can't always follow our heart.  And, I must agree with them - although, somewhat unwillingly.  However, we all try, I think, to find our heart in what we do and it this action which truly defines our world.  Yet, even armed with this knowledge, it is something I have great trouble in doing.

I quite often find myself swinging between the soporific desire to create "Hallmark moments", painting everything nihilistic black, or just mocking the whole damn thing as a fool's errand.  I can't find the middle ground, and I truly admire those that can.  Now, I don't mean to say that one is better than the other...just different...

Fuck it!  I don't really know what I want to say...but a little of it is in the Trover photo post below.  Try to enjoy it without the desire to mock it...but if you want to mock it or paint it black...Heh, who am I to stop you?.

Freshwater West

Freshwater West

As we turned the corner making our way further along the grassy slopes that sauntered beside the coastal rocks, we bid farewell to the welcoming jaws of Freshwater West.

The earth, sky, and water merged together on the horizon, a lazy point of everything and nothing, awakening both momentarily and infinitely.

We can dream when we are fully awake and, all the while, every part of your body knows something that the mind can't hope to understand; we are all poets both living and dead on a small green-blue orb in the middle of nowhere.

Trover Photo Post

View Scott Tate's photos on Trover

Lost in the Order of it All

“Remove all the traffic lights, yellow lines, one-way systems and road markings, and let blissful anarchy prevail. I imagine it would produce a kind of harmony.”
— Sadie Jones

Okay...just to let you know.  I don't really have a plan.  I live in utter chaos and I effing love it.  I mean I am a total nutter.  If there wasn't a closed door to stop me from wandering off into the ether in the morning, I would...oh, and my addiction to morning coffee.  So, this photos is from day 3 of the hike...I should actually post one from day 2, but I will get to that later. 

Many times on the walk, there was some confusion as to where the trail was. Here, you could easily think this is either a very good path, or a shitty road. The large tire tracks on the left kind of suggest the latter, which it is. So, if you plan to hike the Pembrokeshire Coast Path (and I strongly recommend it), bring a good book that details the path. And, if you plan on driving in Wales, I suggest bringing a very small car and a very large dose of courage.

By the way, these are the sand dunes where the Shell House was built for Harry Potter's final film "Deathly Hollows". Just to the left of us is where the house would have stood. 

Shell House Link 1

Shell House Link2

Trover Photo

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Walking in a Dream

“Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real. ”
— Tupac Shakur

As I looked forward to the last leg of the journey on our first day, I felt as if I was in a dream. I thought about the Celtic people who were here over 2000 years ago. I wondered if their life was more dream than reality. And what of our lives? We are consumed with social media, messaging services, mobile phones, an instant click on whatever your heart desires reality, but it pales to the soft light that colours dreams. There is no going back, but it doesn't hurt to visit once in a while.

This is from my Trover photos on the second day of my hike on the Pembrokeshire Coast Trail.

The rest of the collection is below:

Watery Mirrors

“The only journey is the one within.”
— Rainer Maria Wilke

Reflections...were they the beginning?  Certainly, there wasn't a particular time when consciousness began, but I can't help but think that watery mirrors were the first window that we looked through that gave us more than a simple visage.

The photo essay below is from photos that I posted on Trover.  It is a rough draft of something much deeper in my soul which I just can't frame correctly...someday...someday