Follow the Journey ☩𓀙𓃦☉
"It was as if the people in this exotic and strange place were closer to the very fabric of life, the very fragility of existence. The folk I encountered were not so guarded by the thick veils and illusions that usually withhold us from embracing our reality. The air was lighter, less tense, more open. The focus was not on the pains of birth, but on the joy of infancy. Here, death was never far away; the perishable life wasn't so hidden..."
"...Once you live in love, once you embrace and go into the world open-armed, ready to give yourself to all people you encounter without judgement or fear, then loves comes to you, love finds you in all places. Love, always, finds the beloved."
We must always be strong, we must always be faithful, we must always forgive, and love. For the One who we follow is not all the things of this world; He is One thing... He is love.
I felt very free in Mysore. A beautiful city. They call it the City of Palaces. I remember vividly watching the glorious domes and arches and spires whirl-by around me as we sped through, in and out of people, cows, cars, tuk-tuks and market-vendors. Travelling around a city in India, come day or night, on the back [...]
Behold! My global pilgrimage has thus far brought me to some truly extraordinary places, and for the first time brought me on safari in Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu, and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve - in southern India. Here, cut off from all main roads, noise and chaos, the stampede of big towns and bleaching light pollution, you are surrounded by [...]
Dodamarg. Maharashtra. India. Alone. Free. Alive. You are deep in the jungle in South India, wading gently downstream, on the very edge of a river: fast-flowing, powerful, and swollen with fresh monsoon waters. You are in the safest, shallowest waters, under the thick canopy of tropical trees. You are alone, and you have never felt more [...]
Oh, the colour, the spirit, of India! Honestly, the sort of things I got away with in India would be impossible in Europe; and trust me, I've tried to crash weddings in England... and failed. Bangalore is a city of colours and flavours, and I was keen to taste as much as I could. I made [...]
...through the streets of India. After a twelve-hour journey on the oddest sleeper bus on the sub-continent, cramped-up next to some stranger who kept calling me "James Bond" every time the bus turned a corner and he rolled into me, I arrived in Bangalore, Karnataka... thankful to get away. After quick negotiations, I made my way to Shanthi [...]
So majestic to see the wild peacock dash through the jungle, in his natural habitat, a predator, snake-killer, in all nature's glory, prancing around in the undergrowth, then pausing, perfectly poised and vehemently vain, on a grassy verge, ready to be admired by my lens... A jungle prince. Happy to be admired, but with gaze ever ready [...]
On my last day in Agonda, South Goa, I woke up to monsoon rains pouring into my rice-grass hut. Part of the roof had come off due to high winds... no more red sunsets for me. Instead of panicking or getting angry, feeling actually motivated by 'nature's alarm clock', I began packing my bits back [...]
Mother, Child and Lotus. Mysore, India.
Leave your troubles behind... and GO! God knows how much I love packing my little rucksack, jumping on a plane, taxi, boat or train, watching the land I've lived in trail swiftly behind... letting go of all those troubles, loves, losses and gains, having only the bare necessities on my back, on my mind light, [...]
Rural Karnataka, India. To find out more about the author click here. To see more photography click here. James Dee Clayton.
Mother and Child Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Image copyright James Dee Clayton 2015. See more photography from the artist.