During my endless quest of learning to love myself, care for my family and search for my own inner peace and beauty, I discovered my gift – seeing beauty in everything and everybody, even when it isn’t apparent at first glance. My authentic self needs the freedom and space to soar and express the love I feel through my photography. I feel the deep need to share that gift with the world today. It is what I know.
Several years back, I traveled into the wilds of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, with my friend and guide Douglas Neasloss, now chief of the First Nations’ community, Kitasoo GitGat, in the hopes of finding and photographing the elusive White Spirit Bears in their natural habitat. We were skeptical after running into four other people on their way home from an unsuccessful search for these elusive bears for four weeks. By some miracle, WE FOUND THEM.
Once I got over my initial fear and began to relax, I discovered that I was in the midst of thee MOST exquisite landscape I had ever witnessed, standing five feet away from the most beautiful 700 lb white mama bear and her two 1 year old baby black cubs. For some reason, us being there didn’t seem to threaten her at all. As the days unfolded, I began to see the similarities between the mama bear with her cubs and my own personal situation being a single parent with two small children. My struggles were her struggles and vice versa. To my surprise, I also began to see my strength and beauty reflected in hers.
That simple fact touched me deeply. I felt such a compassionate connection with her and saw the love in her eyes when she looked at her cubs. There seemed to be a mutual respect between us. I suppose there was a reason she let us spend three days in and around her and her cubs while she taught them the laws of the land and the skills of salmon fishing. Perhaps she felt the connection as well, and it somehow helped us both not feel quite so alone.
I am drawn to helping preserve this tenuous landscape and the last of our large beasts.
What seems to touch me most in today's world is both how we as a human race have greedily burned through thousands of year of natural resources in less than 100 yrs and how we can be so negligent with our beautiful natural world, which I believe is our true source of fulfillment.
In all its magnificence, our beautiful planet is asking for nothing but to be cherished, protected and its balance respected. I believe we all need to do our part. More than anything, I am drawn to helping preserve this tenuous landscape and the last of our large beasts.
Marni
Click the image below to see the bears in action!
Video: Marni Grossman Editing By: Rhonda Bruce
***Please note: As you can see, these are black bears but the Spirit Bears are white because of a recessive gene. A black mom can have a white cub and a white mom a black cub.