Spirituality Archives - RodneyCurtis.com

Dec

Popping Kernels

The yin and yang of popcorn. Photo illustration by Rodney Curtis

I’m popping popcorn. Standing at the stove, I slowly turn the little handle on our ancient popper as one or two kernels escape the vat. It’s unusual for me to be doing this at this hour, 4:30 in the evening. As the kernels twirl, the emotions swirl behind me.

May

Outliving My Father

Mom and Dad sat for one of my early portrait sessions back in the mid-1980s.

So I’m hanging out, chatting with my wife and daughter after running some errands, having a salty snack — the usual slow afternoon things — when KABLOOEY, it hits me; I’ve outlived my father.

Mar

Mayan Healing Ritual

Massage therapists work their magic during a Mayan Healing Ritual in Costa Maya, Mexico.

You can credit the pills.

You can credit eight months of treatment.

You can credit the warm, moist Caribbean air and glorious sunshine.

Or, like me, you can also credit the Mayan Healing Ritual.

Oct

Stepping Into The Past: Ohio’s Ancient Native American Mounds

The autumn sun shines down, setting a gentle lens flare on one of the Hopewell Mounds.

It’s a first frost on your windshield kind of fall day. The sun creaks above the horizon and the frozen blades of grass quickly melt onto my shoes. Walking out among the mounds, I step back in time.

May

Colorado’s Ancient Mesa Verde

See that little slot on the left? That was my path. See that chasm on the right?

There should’ve been a sign at the beginning.

Right at the trailhead — right when it was do or die time — the sign should’ve said something like “WARNING: Middle-aged Suburban Guys Should Probably Stay Back In The Gift Shop.”

Feb

Making Sense of Key West

Marci relaxes in a funky panoramic shot at the Southernmost Beach Resort on Key West.

Encountering The Five Senses And More In The Conch Republic

“That’s the smell of Night Jasmine,” the tarot card reader told us. “Or maybe it’s Frangipani; they both bloom in the evening.”

The Gulf breeze carried the scent away, playfully departing as quickly as it arrived. Replacing the smell was the sound of a dozen weekend gin joints pounding out the pulsing beat of live bands, DJs and the crowded roar of revelers celebrating another successful sunset.

Jan

Thank you, Leonard

Leonard Falce photograph by Dick Van Nostrand

We first spoke via satellite.

Me — a fresh out of college newbie photographer with no prospects — him, a seasoned professional from New York City, now helming a small photo staff up north in Michigan.

“Hello Leonard … I’m calling from Ireland … my dad says you phoned our house?”

Oct

Ohio’s Ancient Serpent Mound

Photo from archaeologicalconservancy.org

I’m not a big fan of snakes.

So why am I on top of a tower in a rain storm, overlooking the enormous reptile slithering down below me, like it has for more than 2,000 years?

Oct

Ashes to Water

The family cottage is sold and a chapter closes on this Canadian peninsula.

On a mirror-calm bay, on a see-forever day, we scattered my aunt and uncle’s ashes. They died within months of each other over the past year and we took them back to northern Canada, to the cottage they built so long ago.

May

Brace Yourself (and others)

Participants in a yoga and meditation session go through a guided exercise.

Support.

In the healing process, we generally use that word to mean emotional and spiritual help. At a recent medical conference, I had the honor of helping support bone marrow transplantees.

And then they supported me.

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