State of Openness

Leonardo DaVinci would go to bed with a cannonball in his hands on his chest. When he fell asleep, the cannonball would fall, wake him, and he'd write down what he was thinking at the time. He was hypnopompic-- between sleeping and waking-- and it's our most open minded time. We imagine, unbridled, in this state. I tried hypnosis for a while to deal with a problem I was having and learned that the process involves guided relaxation until a deep, anxiety-free state is achieved. This is slowly paired with the anxiety until one is able to recall the relaxed feeling and the anxiety goes away.

Watching my mind "play" was startling. So now, I try to re-induce that place of inventiveness as I photograph. But it's more than that. Imagine meeting every stumbling block, every conflict, or problem with that kind of openness. I feel like it's how we keep the child inside us alive.