mUD MOUNTAIN BLOG
Back in 2011, I found myself camping alone on a remote
Turkish hill. There was no power or water on the land.
It was the start of an adventure that profoundly changed
my beliefs about what is enjoyable, or possible...
How precious a home is. How personal. Idiosyncratic. Like a fingerprint, no home is ever the same as the next. Despite the mass-produced efforts of DIY homebases, our homes remain unique, even if our houses are not. Because a home is so much more than a brick and mortar case. So much deeper. So much wider. It’s a world. A series of concentric circles, expanding ever outward. But from what? Running my finger over the grainy walls, I attempt to draw it all back into me. This creation. The inset beads, the painted stones, each individual window frame. For I’ve been living inside a sculpture. Many times I wasn’t sure as it morphed and grew, whether it was in fact my product, or possessed a life and will of its own. Yet despite illusions a home, no matter how delicately and intimately arranged, is not us. I learn this now, and it is a rude awakening. As I slowly unpick the loops and peel them back from my soul, my eyes water. For it smarts, this letting go. With each passing day another ring drops to the ground. And another. Until one day soon I’ll stand bare, shorn of possessions, stripped of my façades. Just a self. A well of being. Naked. Free. Ready to create once more. And because I’m still clinging, twisting each loop of my home in my hands before letting it fall away, there are keepsakes. Last week, my friend and photographer Melissa Maples came to stay. She rode pillion on my motorbike, used the mosquito net as her bedroom, and partook of the stars, the dawn and the twilight. Her eye for personal detail always arrests me. Without a word from me, she caught my attachments. One by one. My life. Each chapter of the Mud story that has grown out of me, or been subsumed within me. The secret rings of the garden.
And she is a generous soul, Melissa Maples. Which is why she has decided to share her glimpse into my Mud Life with not only me, but you. So follow me. Through the gate. This way. It’s over here. Come inside...
16 Comments
Jon J.
13/6/2016 11:52:34 pm
Wow, beautiful Photos! The landscape and the people :)
Reply
Atulya
14/6/2016 09:23:02 pm
:) It's my life in 82 photographs.
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Hazel
15/6/2016 12:18:14 am
Stunning!!! Melissa's photos of your mud home and simple mountain life gave me goosebumps! I honestly don't know how you could EVER leave such a magical place, especially one that your creativity and hard work brought to life.
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Atulya
15/6/2016 11:10:09 am
How special the people are who read my blog. I'm honoured. Each comment is so real. Ah Hazel. I understand the hard work aspect. For my part, I can feel there is probably only a certain amount of time (a decade? Fifteen years?) where I'll hold the physical power to keep creating at this rate. But there are other powers that ripen as the physical declines. Nature is so fair in that way. The West doesn't really acknowledge the power and wisdom of age. But it's a well of treasures. Our lands are pushing us to dig deeper and discover. Move beyond our limits. And be reborn. In whatever form that may be. Love to you Hazel from The Mud.
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Sandi Berumen
15/6/2016 04:02:51 am
Melissa's photos are absolutely stunning! Some times we get so wound up in our own little world and day to day tribulations that we forget how beautiful every corner of this planet is that we are allowed our small portion of.. You created quite a little paradise for yourself, you fought hard for it and you were able to enjoy it for some time. Following you has been a privilege and pleasure, rooting for you all the way. The pictures really bring it all to life.
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Atulya
15/6/2016 11:02:29 am
Oh Sandi, you made me weep. "Your journey lets us know that there is a place for each and every one of us -- we just need to be quiet, open our hearts and let our own journey unfold to be unique to each and everyone of us." Nothing more can be said over and above that.
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Ed
15/6/2016 05:15:41 am
Amazing! I can see it in the pictures and feel it, you've done all you can do there. It's time to move on.
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Atulya
15/6/2016 11:01:17 am
You are so right. And I am so emotional:) Clinging. Clinging. But it's time.
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Ed
16/6/2016 07:50:20 am
Atulya,
Ed
15/6/2016 05:29:19 am
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atulya
22/6/2016 08:44:32 pm
Thank you Ed, your comments are always wise and appreciated.
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Atulya
28/11/2016 12:30:57 am
Thanks Mike!
Reply
Nelson Edwards`
8/7/2016 07:58:01 am
These beautiful pictures, of a beautiful life (and dog. The smile on your face with your hands in the mud is just, just, wow!), prove once again that a word is worth a thousandth of a picture. And thank you again for your thousands of inspiring words!
Reply
Atulya
28/11/2016 12:31:43 am
Ah cheers Nelson. Melissa has a knack of capturing more than just the surface of things:)
Reply
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