“Take heart!” That is nature’s message to me every time I step into a scene. “Do not take anything with more seriousness than it deserves!” “Receive everything with a respectful, ‘This, too! This, too!” “Let things be as they are, AND as they also are!” “Remember the words of the words of William Blake in his poem, ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Without Contraries is no progression.”‘(1790.)”
Contaries are the very heart of life! Yin/Yang is everywhere we look! We could not see anything without the contrasts of everything! Life consists of contrasts, contraries, contradictions! “Woe, woe!” is balanced by “Hooray! Hallelujah!” That is the way things are! To take offense is to ignore the counter forces at work throughout the entire scope of existence! The tide comes in and the tide turns around, and the tide goes out! And THAT is the way things are. Celebrate the contaries! That is our place! To recognize and celebrate the contaries! By saying, “YES!” to all that is exactly as it is! Because that is how it is! and our place is to witness that, to recognize it as nature’s way, as life’s way, and participate in the natural way of life with all our heart, mind, soul, intention and determination. Because that is how things are!
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 