August 2025 Dwell on the Beauty of Life

Hi Friends,
I just want to take a moment to say that I am right here with you, doom scrolling and waking up most mornings from nightmares. When the pandemic landed five years ago, I started focusing on Beauty as my medicine, inspired by the wisdom of Francis Weller, psychologist, soul activist and grief guide. In his most recent book, In the Absence of the Ordinary, Weller invites us to build our medicine kit for the traumatic times we’re living through with these offerings: 1) Practice self-compassion 2) Turn toward the feelings 3) Be astonished by Beauty 4) Have patience. This monthly blog is my act of resistance, and maybe a tiny little bandaid for the world that’s on fire. It’s my offering to you as a place of rest and yes, a place to take in a little Beauty.  Peace to you. 🙏🏻

Summer is coming to a close, sort of…
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area summer temperatures are just arriving, and yet the change of season is close at hand. I always look forward to Autumn. It’s my favorite time of year. The light turns more golden and the shadows lengthen as the sun’s angle in our northern hemisphere sky begins to lower towards the horizon. For me, Fall is a time of letting go, beginning that slow turn inward, where the darkness holds the potential for deepening creative expression. But I jump ahead. Now is the time to get out and enjoy the ripeness in nature! Dwell on that beauty that nurtures and replenishes us… Lie out under the stars and imagine that what you see is your own vastness, your immensity, your soul, and let it run. Enjoy these late summer images below.
Click on any image to see in gallery view.

Photography and Mindfulness, European Style
I’ve been taking an online training this month with ANDANAFOTO of Spain, and thoroughly enjoying learning about the healing power of mindful photography from the European perspective. Contemplative photography and the psycho-spiritual healing that can occur in the making and viewing of it, has been my passion for the past 20 years. I studied photography in college in the 1970s @ Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). It wasn’t until recovering from a near-death-experience in 2005, while attending a Zen photography workshop with John Daido Loori, that I truly understood its healing properties. It was then that contemplative photography became my primary spiritual practice. Master photographer and Zen practitioner Minor White said, “Spirit always stands still for the photographer IT has chosen.” This is my photo mantra. It’s the “why” and “how” I see.  ANDANAFOTO combines photography with personal development, taught by psychologist, photographer and teacher, Amparo Muñoz Morellà. She says, “Photography can heal, opening paths to understanding, integration and transformation.” I find it reassuring to have what I’ve known, experienced and taught from an intuitive sacred point of view, be validated by her evidence-based material. Here are a few of my images inspired by the workshop this month. 

“WaterGlass” – the assignment was to spend time with a common object, see it and photograph it from many angles. These are two of the fifteen photos that I made. The Light & Shadow assignment is illustrated in the second two images. I invite you to soften your gaze and slowly explore what sensations or emotions arise for you with each one. Click on any image to see in gallery view.

New original Beauty-as-Medicine™ photo card decks for sale
Printed on deluxe 6×9 heavy postcard stock with velvet finish, they feel lovely in the hand and are large enough for practicing Zen contemplative seeing or Visio Divina psycho-spiritual meditation and inquiry. I use them with individuals and groups in spiritual, integrative healing, and wellness settings. An instruction card with easy prompts comes with each set. Email me if you’d like to experience Beauty-as-Medicine™ healing photography with me, or to order your own set of photo cards. These are printed-on-demand, not mass produced.
$108 for each set, or $200 for both, shipped directly to you from the printer.
Beauty-as-Medicine™ – 24 vertical color photos w/instruction card
Beauty-as-Medicine™ – 24 horizontal color photos w/instruction card

None of this post was written with AI, as you can probably tell by my over use of commas.  My photography is also original. Thank you to everyone reading my musings. Feel free to send me comments, share your thoughts.  Also, if you, or anyone you know, are in need of a spiritual guide, end-of-life doula, wedding or memorial officiant, please reach out.

Peace, love and blessings,
☮️ ❤️ 🙏🏻

Rev. Lisa
Spiritual Guide, Healer
End-of-Life Doula
Contemplative Photographer
Free Downloadable Photos at Pexels
Spirit-Infused Healing Photography Books for sale at Blurb
Beauty-as-Medicine™ Retreats: 2026 Dates TBA
“Photography is my love language. Teaching people to see Beauty-as-Medicine™ is my Ministry.” Rev. Lisa