Eric J Gates

I don't have much: A fancy camera along some time and energy is about all I can claim in my life...I try to help out my fellow travelers when possible but this day I was the one receiving kindness and altruism. This is Rodgers, and he offered me a cool drink of water on a hot day; while he waited on a meal distribution ministry to open up. The bag of tobacco was given back to him just before this photo was taken because he's a giver. I want to be like him! I pray for you friend, I hope you'll do the same for me. #oklahomaphotography #street #endhomelessness #loveoneanother❤️

A revolution starts in your heart.

Keep the faith with one another!

Hold tight.

Would you like to come out and play?

I got complimented on my shoes today...told they were cute! It stopped me in my tracks because these shoes are on their way out; these shoes have walked with me over snow and ice, through bramble and dirt. They've been on my feet while I watched my soul be twisted and bent, been there as I witnessed the joy slowly fade from vibrant eyes. I look at them with supreme love and adoration. Glad someone else saw their beauty too!

We all crave a warm, unconditional embrace #hugsmaketheworldgoround #amotherslove #healing

"Stand Straight, Be a Man"

The Morning Sun is some of my favorite light to play with, it's harsh yet subtle and warms not only the day but also my mind. I don't often get out to enjoy the sunrise as much as I would want to but these few moments when I do bring hope and joy. #goodmorning #warmglow #wanderlust #imperfectlyperfect

I've watched you hiding in the sunlight, and blowing whispers in the wind. #oklahomaphotography #sunset #loveoneanother❤️

Spent some time watching @calebalvinjames do some badass tricks and came out with a few photos to show for it.

I want to know you, to feel and understand what makes you joyous and what brings you pain; I want to fight you like the waves fight a rugged cliff's jagged facade, to crash into you and caress the hurt you've held most deep. I want to consume you yet hold you as unique and independent. I want all of you, for all time.

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they cannot tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own - not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions. Marcus Aurelius 121 A.D. – 180 A.D.

Today ask, "Where do I deserve to extend myself grace?" #selflove #grace #healing #shadowwork

Textures speak out to me...I love the way that the highs and lows balance together to form beautiful contrast; how each ridge transitions so skillfully and simply into the next and the next, each unique yet part of an entire hole. Whether it's the patterning of a storm-swept brick wall or the decaying corpse of a once-proud tree; It all reminds me of the ever-present yet ever-changing moment of here now. #oklahomaphotography #blackandwhitephotography #contrast

There is something about the nighttime that I just can’t explain; I love the harsh whites and blues of halogen bulbs mixed with the burning luminance of sodium-vapor lamps. I love the way light still finds a way to fill in the shadows!