Photo Therapy in Arizona

There are many parts of the world that are beautiful and I have been fortunate enough to see some of them. The crisp cleanliness of Singapore, Westminster Abbey in London, the Taj Mahal in India. I have seen the Vatican with its spiritual stillness and the canals in Venice. I have seen the blueness of a glacier up close in Alaska and almost the same color blue in the waters of the Caribbean. I have been lucky, I have seen a lot. And I have written songs and taken pictures of every single one of these incredible places. But there is nothing like Arizona.

I lied in Arizona for ten years and have had the pleasure of taking all types of pictures of the great diversity of this wonderful state. From the four corners at the very upper corner of the state to sleeping in a tent overlooking Monument Valley, to the snows in the winter up in Flagstaff, I have done it all. I have enjoyed the cactus and desert flowers in Phoenix and Tucson and participated in many an Indian ritual at one of the many reservations in the state. I have climbed down the Grand Canyon (if 300 feet counts as a climb) and have sat on cliffs edges (not really but close) to take pictures of the sun set or sun rise over this vast wonder. Sometimes its vastness actually takes away from its beauty because it is so hard to take in.

But to narrow it down even further, within the stat of Arizona I enjoy Sedona. Red rock country. The most incredibly beautiful place that I have seen. Now of course this isn’t to say that nothing compares, but in terms of ease of access, natural beauty, the arts and the community there is nothing like Sedona. I have had some of my most peaceful moments in Sedona, clicking away with my camera trying to capture a beauty that I never really captured with my lens. Its souring red rock against green grass and shrubbery to the quaint artsy town that offers any kind of art imaginable, this place is an artsy fartsy fans fantasy. And that would be me.

I love trying to capture the image, and even if I don’t (which is more times than not the case) getting lost in the sights is its own therapy for me. I left those trips with a renewed sense of awe and wonder for the god-crafted beauty of the countryside. You can't ask more than that from a road trip.