Beauty
... Simplicity ... Living in the Moment: One Wave
article by Susan
Hart photos by Jim Welch
Copyright
2002 Jim Welch and Susan Hart
.Jim
Welch loves waves! He loves to watch them, surf them, chase them
around the world, and (luckily for the rest of us) he loves to photograph
them.
The waves Jim
Welch puts before you sparkle with color, light, and energy and draw you
into their luminous world ... And what a world it is! Rainbows,
fantasy landscapes, and cosmic swirls all unfold in a gorgeous microcosm
of nature and the very essence of life.
Jim has been
surfing the waves of the Hawaiian Islands for over twenty-five years, so
he knows well the nuances, the moods, the very heartbeat of the ocean.
As he succinctly puts it, "Each wave has its own name tag." Surfers
are very attuned to the life force of the ocean. It is customary
for a surfer to watch the water before getting in, to get a feel for the
rhythm and pattern of the wave sets at that particular moment. Part
of the pleasure of surfing is the feeling of being "at one" with the water,
and of course in the big waves the very life of a surfer depends on achieving
this synergy.
In 1989, the
search for new surf experiences and a sense of peace and freedom led Jim
away from home and on the road. He "hung out" in a California beach
house for awhile, had fun, and found a certain liberation. However,
he determined that his next trip would be approached with a more focused
sense of purpose. Right about the time he started traveling, a girl
friend urged him to buy a camera; he shot his first roll of film with the
guidance of a professional photographer, saw the results, and was hooked.
Traveling became about really wanting to see the world, "experiencing the
differences", and taking photographs. Oh yes, and there was still
the call of those waves ...
Message
from the Author: Five years ago my partner Rich and
I threw away our TV, and to make a long story short, it changed our lives.
We started looking around outside of "the box" and questioned what else
there was. So ... we are now out Planet Tripping and finding
out! Rich and I are very excited about combining our creative energies
to produce a web site where you will find travel resources, photographs,
and information about places we have visited. However, much
more importantly we have made a commitment to write articles and provide
links that will inform and uplift people. You will find these
in the "Views" section, where we also invite community feedback and discussion.
Ultimately it is our mission on this trip to help inspire a more positive
way of thinking and being here on Planet Earth. We invite you to
join us at www.planettripping.com.
.
In an ironic
way, Jim considers it fortunate that his budget was tight and he had to
travel to "where the money goes further." (Read between the lines,
some third world countries.) Jim has seen the "rawness" of
people starving in the streets, and the very real disparity between the
rich and the poor. He has had experiences in places like Costa Rica
and Indonesia where people with literally next to nothing have welcomed
him into their homes and shared what little they had. He has felt
the "realness of life" in tin shacks with flea-ridden dirt floors.
Yes, this is not ideally how anyone wants to live, but it does have a way
of bringing everything into focus.
It was in these
experiences that he found the golden secret of where happiness may be found,
at least in part. He has been amazed at the kindnesses extended to
him, and the essential happiness he has witnessed in people who had nothing.
These experiences have taught him about the value of simplicity and living
in the moment. There was also the realization of the "sameness we
all share; in the end we are all humans having experiences, and just trying
to get by in life."
Why does Jim
think everyone should travel?
"The new sensory
experiences give you a reborn appreciation for everything, and most of
all for life ... You feel alive! You discover the magic and richness
of living in the moment. There is the fascination of discovering
new things and you expand."
Jim has come
to the conclusion that " television sells us an empty dream. When you see
people with so few possessions who can smile, and others who have so much
who cannot, it makes you examine the whole thing. Traveling has opened
up my eyes to the real deficit in Western society."
Jim also sees
in people a lack of connection to nature, although he does believe that
many crave to find that connection again. He says, "I have always
had a deep sorrow for the decline and decimation of the natural world.
I hold it close to my heart, and I see man going in and trying to tame
it. In my heart, there is an appreciation for nature, and I try to
capture it through the lense in such a way that people will take another
look and really appreciate the beauty."
There came
a point in the ongoing saga of Jim's travels, when he "felt the call" to
go to Africa. This trip was not about chasing the surf; he simply
felt an irresistible pull towards the place. Through a set of circumstances,
he was invited to visit the village of the Pondo tribe, who as it happened
were hosting a meeting of chiefs to determine solutions to some ecological
problems.
During the
meeting, there were about seventy people crammed into one hut, all working
together towards the common good. There was a feeling of community in that
African village and, as he says, there was the sense that "if we are going
to succeed, we are going to do it together." After the meeting
there was a celebration. Music began and the children started to
dance first. Jim was struck by the innate rhythm of the children,
some of them very young, as they danced to the hypnotic
chanting
of male and female voices. The throbbing beat of the drums intensified,
and as the adults joined the dance it gradually escalated into a frenzied,
rhythmic joining of the all into one. It was at that moment that
Jim came to the profound realization of how connected we really are to
one another and to the spirit world; he truly experienced "One".
This understanding
of "One" was bound to eventually affect Jim's photography. For many years
he happily photographed landscapes and surfers, and then suddenly his enthusiasm
for that subject matter dried up. In an ironic twist, he found his
new passion in an old friend, the ocean. He was at the beach one
day observing a point where two wave sets were crashing against each other
in a rather interesting way. Inspiration hit like lightning, and he jumped
right into the water and took his first wave pictures.
That was just
four months ago, and Jim's new fascination with the intimate world of waves
has really taken hold. He loves the challenge of taking these photographs.
Jim works in waves that are anywhere from knee-deep to twelve feet high
at a beach that is notorious for its sometimes vicious undertow. There
is definitely an immediacy and a sense of timing that is involved.
As he says, "I am in rhythm with the ocean's pulse ... I sit and watch
the waves first, and I mesh with the rhythm of the natural elements of
the ocean."
In every wave
photograph you see his love for the beauty in nature, his connection with
the ocean, and that feeling of "One."
And so, to
sum it up Jim, can you tell us "why waves" and "why now"?
"Waves are
unpredictable, and I realize that is what I love most about life. It was
right there in front of me all along, and I just didn't see it!"
And there
you have it ...
Beauty ...
Simplicity ... Living in the moment ... "One".
If you would
like further information about Jim's work, please contact us through our
web site at www.planettripping.com
Copyright
2002 Jim Welch and Susan Hart
Message
from the Author:
