In this episode, I examine the paradox of structure in the artistic life. While a rigid process can become a hindrance to free exploration, a lack of structure often leads to anxiety and a disconnected, mechanical approach to image-making. I share the specific routine I developed four years ago to manage the internal pressure to "deliver" results. By incorporating time for meditation and arriving well before the light, I explore how slowing down allows art to emerge as a natural byproduct of witnessing, rather than a forced objective.

Previous episodes mentioned here:

https://www.verseoflight.com/blog/process-of-portfolio-creation

https://www.verseoflight.com/blog/portfolio-simplification-and-the-journey-of-single-images

https://www.verseoflight.com/blog/reflections-on-my-photography-journey

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

A tradition repeats, yet nothing repeats. Each New Year’s Eve, a small painted ornament receives a private note; the next year, it is opened and read. The surprise is not what the note says, but who it seems to come from: the handwriting is recognizable, while the writer feels absent. From that simple discomfort, the reflection turns toward Anicca - the ceaseless unfolding of change - and Anatta - the absence of a fixed, permanent self. The episode invites a quieter kind of honesty: what moves through the year is less an “entity” and more a living process, reshaped by countless moments, with memory as a thread that also keeps changing.

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

As 2025 comes to a close, this episode offers a personal reflection on a year dedicated to art - a year of creating new portfolios, participating in exhibitions, and deepening a meditation practice. It looks forward to 2026, which will be a year of strengthening the artistic core and beginning a new journey into the world of printing. The central theme explores the critical distinction between direction and single steps. It posits that while both are essential, like the two wings of a bird, a clear direction must always come first. Without it, our actions, no matter how energetic, can become meaningless. This episode is a call for clarity in defining our goals and the persistence needed to walk toward them, one step at a time.

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

Sometimes, to strengthen our creative work, we must be willing to let parts of it go. This episode is a personal account of revisiting and simplifying photography portfolios. Using my "Fleeting Existence" portfolio as an example, I share how removing three images led to a more powerful and cohesive result. I also explore the ambiguous case of my unpublished "Harris" work, where the "filler" images might be essential. Ultimately, it’s a reflection on the fluid nature of art, the importance of asking the right questions, and the quiet strength found in simplification.

Link to Blog page with all the examples discussed in the episode:

https://www.verseoflight.com/blog/portfolio-simplification-and-the-journey-of-single-images

Fleeting Existence portfolio:

https://www.verseoflight.com/portfolio/2025/fleeting-existence

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

Style is not a technique to be learned, but an unknown territory to be explored with a quiet mind. It is about learning to recognize the subtle, vague hints your whole being responds to when you look at a piece of work. By pausing to ask why an image works for you - exploring its mood, its colors, its feeling - you gather another building block for your own style.

Previous episodes on style development:

Developing our own style

Creative DNA

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

What is the true source of creativity? This episode begins with a reflection on the poetry of Walt Whitman and journeys inward to explore the profound power of listening to ourselves. We consider how this quiet, internal attention is the foundation beneath all creative habits and techniques - allowing us to distinguish our path, know when to rest, and build the confidence to create work that is genuinely our own.

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

This episode explores the journey of building a photographic portfolio, step by step. Using “Fleeting Existence” as a case study, I share how old raw material can gain new life once we ourselves are ready to see it differently. From first selections to final refinement, this is a story about patience, structure, and allowing images to reveal their own direction.

Portfolio: Fleeting Existence

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.

Cooler winds bring the turning of seasons, reminding us of the cycles in both nature and creativity. Returning from a ten-day Vipassana retreat, I reflect on how silence and meditation sharpen sensitivity - first inwardly, then outwardly - until art itself becomes a process of seeing beneath surfaces. In the stillness of field work or the quiet of editing, images arise not as trophies to be captured but as subtle truths revealed. Meditation, like art, is less about striving and more about attunement: a way of living, perceiving, and uncovering deeper realities.

Website: VerseOfLight.com

Instagram: @verse.of.light

Instagram: @contours.of.vision

Audio Credit:

"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Link to License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: chriszabriskie.com

Changes: No changes were made.