Hi, I'm Cody. I'm a musician, a photographer, an artist, a teacher, a mindfulness practitioner, and an author. I'm a dad of three boys. I tend to notice things that others don't pay much attention to. 

Reflections in windows, odd shapes in ordinary objects, sounds coming from distant spaces, the rustling of leaves, the color orange, the smooth surface of a tabletop. 

The connection between photography and mindfulness made sense to me in a new way in 2007 when I participated in a workshop on Miksang Contemplative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. 

Before the workshop, I had already begun to use photography for spiritual healing and personal renewal but needed additional guidance. Trying to decide whether to pursue a career in portrait photography or focus on selling my work in galleries, I was frustrated with the limitations that either path seemed to offer. 

Miksang allowed me to continue using photography in my everyday life without worrying whether my photographs were conventionally "good" or fit an external standard of what my pictures should look like. 

I wanted to explore the Miksang way of seeing without limiting the possibility of more conventional applications of photography if I wanted to explore them, as well. 

Miksang is not a sales-directed activity, however. It is a way of deepening your connection to your visual world without relying on the preferred subject matter and techniques used by professional photographers, fine art photographers, universities, and social media marketers. Or, even friends and family. 

It is uniquely individual and begins with inner experience. It comes from a direct experience of relating with the world, before thinking and labeling close down your awareness and narrow your vision. 

I find this freeing and refreshing. I don't need to exclude my home, my family, or my everyday environment from the practice of photographing what stops me. The only limit is my capacity to give attention and awareness to each moment. 

If what I see doesn't send an energy charge through me, I don't have to point my camera at it. If what I see in the viewfinder isn't as cool as what I saw with my eyes, I don't have to press the shutter. If the photo doesn't have the same spark that made me stop in the first place, there's no need to share it with anyone. I can be honest with myself. 

This is a different way of making pictures. It is a different way of living. It is an adventure and a homecoming. I am grateful for what I've learned and look forward to continuing the journey.