https://www.michelleraneejohnson.com/

Michelle Ranee Johnson Photography, Yosemite Village, CA (2026)

10/21/2026

“We are each required to walk our own road and then stop, assess what we have learnt, and share it with others. It is only in this way that the next generation can learn from those who have walked before them. We can do no more than tell our story. Then it is up to them to make of it what they will.” - Ma Sisulu.

Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu (aka Ma Sisulu; born Nontsikelelo Thethiwe) was born on October 21, 1918 (Camama, South Africa) & passed away on June 2, 2011 (Johannesburg, S.A.). She was an incredible woman who was an activist against the South African apartheid & married fellow activist Walter Sisulu. In 2004, she was voted 57th of the SABC3’s Great South Africans. She excelled at school, showed leadership skills, & became known as the “Mother of the Nation” in South Africa.

She married Walter Sisulu in 1944, & Nelson Mandela was their best man. They had 5 children & were married for 59 years (Walter passed away in Ma’s arms at 90). Walter was a political activist who spent time in prison next to Mandela. She, herself, was arrested after her husband went underground in 1963. She spent ~2 months in solitary confinement. Eventually, she got a passport & led a UDF delegation overseas - meeting Margaret Thatcher & Pres. George HW Bush. She was honored to nominate Mandela as President of the Republic of South Africa.

She began & worked at the Albertina Sisulu Foundation for more than 50 years. Her foundation improved the lives of children & older people, & as a result, the World Peace Council elected her president from 1993-96.

“Women are the people who are going to relieve us from all this oppression and depression. The rent boycott that is happening in Soweto now (in the 1980’s) is alive because of the women. It is the women who are on the street committees educating the people to stand up and protect each other.” — Ma Sisulu.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertina_Sisulu and https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/albertina-nontsikelelo-sisulu

Photo: “Alabama Hills Road” - a solitary dirt road in the looking towards . November 2025. Nüümü Witü, Newe Sogobia and Nüümü Homelands. NikonUSA.

I used Aimee

10/17/2026

“Often you shall think your road impassable, sombre and companionless. Have will and plod along; and round each curve you shall find a new companion.” — Mikhail Naimy (The Book of Mirdad: The strange story of a monastery which was once called The Ark).

The Lebanese poet, philosopher, & novelist Mikail Joseph Naimy (ميخائيل نعيمة or Mikha’il Nu’ayma) was born in Baskinta, Ottoman Syria, on October 17, 1889, and died in Beirut, Lebanon, on February 28, 1988, at age 98. He was known for his spiritual writings and is considered a prominent modern Arabic writer of the 20th century. His best-known work is The Book of Mirdad.

As a child, he lived in Palestine, then attended the Theological Seminary in Ukraine from 1906-11. He moved to the USA in 1911 and joined his two brothers in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1916, he moved to Seattle to study law and liberal arts at the University of Washington. He moved to NYC in 1916 and was drafted into the US Army in 1918. He returned to Walla Walla after the war and began his writing career there in 1919. He wrote poetry in three different languages: English, Russian, and Arabic. He moved back to NYC and joined Khalil Gibran and eight other writers to form the New York Pen League. Naimy was the secretary until he returned to Baskinta in 1932.

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“فكِّــروا كما لو كانت أفكاركم منقوشة بأحرف من نار على صفيحة الجَلَد حيث تبصرها و تقرأها جميع الكائنات. و إنها في الواقع لكذلك.

و تكلَّــموا كما لو كان العالم كله أذنا واحدة مصغية إلى ما تقولون. و إنه في الواقع لكذلك.

و اعمــلوا كما لو كان كلّ عمل من أعمالكم سيرتدّ بنتيجته إليكم. و إنه في الواقع لكذلك.

و تمــنُّوا كما لو كنتم الأمنية التي تتمنّـون. و إنكم في الواقع لكذلك.

و احيوا كما لو كان ربُّـكم في حاجة إلى حياتكم ليحيا هو حياته. و إنه في الواقع لكذلك.”

― ميخائيل نعيمة, مرداد

“Think as if your thoughts were engraved with letters of fire on the sheet of skin where all beings could see and read them. And it actually is.

And speak as if the whole world were one ear attentive to what you say. And it is actually so.

And act as if each of your deeds would return its result to you. And it is actually so.

And make a wish as if you were the wish that

10/16/2026

I’m finally putting together my 2027 calendars - I’m a bit behind. Anyone interested in purchasing? I am between a couple of choices, and perhaps you could help me choose -

a. Painting with Light Calendar - photos from my award-winning black and white series with a few photos from this year mixed in.
b. Visions of Light Calendar - photos I’ve taken from November 2025-present.
c. Yosemite Calendar - Yosemite throughout the years.

I will also make one with numbered dates like before (more about the photo than a calendar), and hopefully a second with an actual calendar below the photos (standard).

The more calendars I order, the bigger a discount the company will give me. Last year, I ordered 100, and the calendars were $40. If I order only 50, they would be $45. They all come signed.

If you live in the Fresno or Mariposa area, I can deliver in person (usually free, depending on distance), or ship, whatever you prefer. I can ship anywhere in the world, but shipping (and customs) prices will vary.

Now on to the topic of the day:

木漏れ日 (Komorebi): “sunlight filtered through tree leaves.”
Happy ! Do you have a favorite word? If so, please comment below! It can be in any language; the more variety, the better!

Waldeinsamkeit (German): “The feeling of solitude and connectedness to nature when being alone in the woods.”

Papillon (French): Butterfly.

Fernweh (German): Being homesick for a place you’ve never been.

Tsundoku (Japanese): When a person buys lots of books but never finds the time to read all of them.

Resfeber (Swedish): That mixed feeling of excitement and fear before traveling.

Ethereal (English): dreamy, heavenly, delicate.

浮世絵 Ukiyo-e (Japanese): Means floating world, but stands for someone who lives in the moment and doesn’t take their life for granted.

Sources: https://nationaltoday.com/dictionary-day/; https://www.ef.edu/blog/language/13-words-with-no-english-translation/ & https://www.fluentu.com/blog/beautiful-words-in-other-languages/

Photos: I will show a few photos that I have chosen for the various calendars: 1. “Lone Tree” - A beautiful lone tree out near Gardnerville, Nevada, in October 2024. Washoe Lands. ➡️

10/13/2026

“Let us keep the dance of rain our fathers kept and tread our dreams beneath the jungle sky.” — Arna Bontemps.

The incredible novelist, librarian, poet, & member of the Harlem Renaissance named Arna Wendell Bontemps was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, on October 13, 1902, & he passed at age 71 on June 4, 1973, in Nashville, Tennessee.

His father was a contractor, & when Arna was older, he would take him to speak-easies at night. His mother, Maria Carolina Pembroke, was a teacher. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was three (in the Watts district). He went to Pacific Union College, graduated in 1923, majoring in English with a minor in history, & was part of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

He began working at the L.A. Post Office, where he met Wallace Thurman (Fire!!! Magazine). He then moved to NYC & became a member of the Harlem Renaissance. He published his first poem (“Hope”) in 1924 in the NAACP’s magazine “The Crisis.” After that, he taught in NYC at the Harlem Academy (now called Northeastern Academy), where he continued to publish poetry. He won the Crisis Poetry Prize in 1926. He made many lifelong friends in NYC, including Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, etc. Also, in 1926, he married Alberta Johnson (they had 6 children).

When the Great Depression worsened, he moved with his family to Huntsville, Alabama, & taught at Oakwood Junior College for 3 years.

His first novel (God Sends Sunday) in 1931 got much attention. He also wrote children’s books & collaborated with Langston Hughes on “Popo and Fifina.” However, he moved back to California when it became clear (with the Scottsboro Boys trial) that African-American writers & intellectuals were not welcome in Northern Alabama at that time.

Eventually, he obtained his M.A. in Library Science from the University of Chicago in 1943. He became the head librarian at Fisk University (Nashville, TN), where he put together the Langston Hughes Renaissance Collection during his free time and worked there until 1964. After retiring from Fisk, he worked at the University of Illinois & Yale University (he became curator of the James Weldon Johnson Collection).

More info ➡️

Honors: 2

10/12/2026

“Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” — Crazy Horse.

Happy !!! Today we celebrate Indigenous people. Do you know what tribe or people lived on the land you inhabit? I challenge everyone to do an internet search (there are Native land apps, but I have learned from Indigenous Women Hike (please follow - I have learned a lot from this beautiful page)- that many of those apps or pages are incomplete and can be wrong at times. The best bet is to do an internet search (search your town + Indigenous people). Also - don’t just search - find out some things about the tribe/people in your area: how do they say hello? How are you? What kind of food did they eat? What were they known for (incredible baskets, beading, etc.)? Etc.

“The forest is not a resource for us, it is life itself. It is the only place for us to live.” — Evaristo Nugkuag Ikanan.

“All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” — Chief Seattle.

“Any journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. The collision of short and long food chains strategies are at the basis of our current crisis. Indigenous peoples living on their ancestral lands can help industrialized countries by living in a sustainable manner (not the contrary). If we destroy their environments and communities, we will lose the answers they have to solving our problems, and to the protection of our common futures…” — Raúl Montenegro.

Source: https://www.history.com/articles/indigenous-peoples-day-history

Photo: “Wassama Roundhouse” - A beautiful, cloudy day in April 2026 at Wassama Roundhouse State Park, a wonderful and meaningful place, especially for the Southern Sierra Miwok, who hold ceremonies here. , NikonUSA . I used Artrooms | Art mockup app for artists to showcase my photograph on a wall.

10/11/2026

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child —our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” —Thích Nhất Hạnh.

The amazing Thích Nhất Hạnh (born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo), a Vietnamese Thiền Sư (Zen master), was born on October 11, 1926, in Huế, Thừa Thiên, Annam, French Indochina, and he lived to be 95 years old and passed, also in Huế on January 22, 2022. He was a peace activist, poet, teacher, Buddhist monk, and the founder of the Plum Village Tradition (a Buddhist school named after the Plum Village Monastery in France. They focus on mindfulness in everything one does).

In the mid-1960s, he was one of the co-founders of the School of Youth for Social Services. He was also the creator of the Order of Interbeing. Unfortunately, he was exiled from South Vietnam in 1966 when he refused to take sides and oppose the war. Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.

Thích Nhất Hạnh established monasteries worldwide and then gave talks promoting non-violent solutions by using deep listening. He was finally permitted back to South Vietnam in 2005 (39-year exile).

Awards: 1991: Courage of Conscience Award; 2015: Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award; 2017: the Education University of Hong Kong awarded him an honorary doctorate. He couldn’t attend, so John Lee Chi-kin (VP of the university) went to Thailand to give the award to him. Several films, like “The Power of Forgiveness,” “Walk With Me,” and others. There is also a bronze monument by artist Mario Chiodo of him, alongside 24 other humanitarians (including Nelson Mandela & Martin Luther King, Jr.), in Oakland, CA.

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” Thích Nhất Hạnh.

“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.” — Thích Nhất Hạnh.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nhất_Hạnh & https://plumvillage.org/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/.

Photo info on next slide➡️

Photo: “Walk on Earth” - Bea

10/10/2026

“Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but, importantly, YOU ARE NOT THE RAIN.” — Matt Haig.

Today is , and it matters because we all have mental strengths and weaknesses that can help us, but also hold us back. It is crucial to realize that we all have mental health issues in our own ways - sometimes just during certain times in our lives or for our whole lives. No matter what issue(s) you are facing, you are not the only one with a problem you want to overcome. By opening up to others (friends, family, online forums, therapists, etc.), you can realize others experience these feelings and can offer tools to turn your weaknesses into strengths.

This year’s topic is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,” focusing on listening to people who live with mental health challenges and hearing their stories. We also need to go beyond just letting them be heard and let them make decisions. We definitely need to get more community-driven, person-centered mental health care (not institutions).

How can we help those around us who may have mental health challenges?

“You are the one thing in this world, above all other things, that you must never give up on. When I was in middle school, I was struggling with severe anxiety and depression and the help and support I received from my family and a therapist saved my life. Asking for help is the first step. You are more precious to this world than you’ll ever know.” — Lili Rhinehart.

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers.

Source: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026.

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Photo: “Green River Lakes Storm” - One of my most memorable and favorite places on earth: in the in Wyoming. It is such a wild, imposing, yet strikingly beautiful place. August 2017. Arapaho and Shoshone Ancestral Homeland. , NikonUSA,

10/09/2026

“I counted my years and realized that I have less time to live by, than I had lived so far. I feel like a child who won a pack of candies; at first he ate them with pleasure, but when he realized that there was little left, he began to taste them intensely.
I have no time for endless meetings where the statutes, rules, procedures and internal regulations are discussed, knowing that nothing will be done.
I no longer have the patience to stand absurd people who, despite their chronological age, have not grown up.
My time is too short: I want the essence; my spirit is in a hurry. I do not have much candy in the package anymore.
I want to live next to humans, very realistic people who know how to laugh at their mistakes and who are not inflated by their own triumphs and who take responsibility for their actions. In this way, human dignity is defended and we live in truth and honesty.
It is the essentials that make life useful.
I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch the hearts of those whom hard strokes of life have learned to grow with sweet touches of the soul.
Yes. I’m in a hurry. I’m in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.
I do not intend to waste any of the remaining desserts. I am sure they will be exquisite, much more than those eaten so far.
My goal is to reach the end satisfied and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.
We have two lives and the second begins when you realize you only have one.” — Mário de Andrade.

Mário Raul de Morais Andrade was born on October 9, 1893, in São Paulo, Brazil, and died there on February 25, 1945, at age 51. He was a renowned Brazilian poet, art historian, critic, novelist, musicologist, and photographer. In 1922, he published Paulicéia Desvairada, considered one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian poetry. In addition, he was a pioneer in ethnomusicology (whose work influenced many outside of Brazil as well).

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Sources: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38702878034823117/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mário_de_Andrade.

Photo: “Live with Intensity”, a beautiful sunrise at on the in

10/08/2026

“It is so sad that it takes so long for people to understand what needs to happen in order to be free.” — Faith Ringgold(Faith Ringgold).

On October 8, 1930, in NYC, Faith Ringgold was born. She was renowned for her exquisite narrative quilts, paintings, performance art, mixed-media sculptures, and her intersectional activism. After high school, she attended the City College of New York, where she earned both her B.A. and M.A. degrees. She taught art in the NYC public school system while also working as an artist and actively promoting other Black artists, challenging marginalization in art museums. Did you know she wrote and illustrated over 12 children’s books? Her art has been featured in many prestigious venues, including the Museum of Arts & Design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Guggenheim.

She participated in many feminist and anti-racist organizations, including Ad Hoc Women’s Art Committee (which she helped found alongside Poppy Johnson and Lucy Lippard), Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), Women Students and Artists for Black Art Liberation (WSABAL- Ringgold and her daughter Michele Wallace founded it- as well as the National Black Feminist Organization).

Ringgold taught throughout her career until 2002, when she retired. She taught at many universities, including Pratt Institute, Wagner College, Banks Street College of Education, and UC San Diego.

She has written an autobiography titled “We Flew Over the Bridge.” She has won over 80 awards/honors (including the 2009 Peace Corps Award) and has 23 honorary Doctorates. She passed away on April 13, 2024, at age 93, in Englewood, NJ.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Ringgold & https://faithringgold.com/

Photo: “Death Valley Layers” - These beautiful layers at Death Valley National Park remind me of quilts and how they are stitched together to tell a story, so they seemed to correlate well with Ringgold’s art. January 2023. Timbisha Shoshone & Newe Sogobia Ancestral Homeland. January 2023. , NikonUSA, .

I used Artrooms | Art mockup app for artists to showcase my photograph on a wall and Adobe Lightroom to make the

10/07/2026

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” — Desmond Tutu.

On October 7, 1931, the great Desmond Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, South Africa. He lived to be 90 when he passed away on December 26, 2021, in Cape Town, South Africa. He was a South African Anglican bishop & theologian known for his anti-apartheid work and his human rights activism. From 1985-86, he was Bishop of Johannesburg, and from 1986-96, he was Archbishop of Cape Town. He was the first black African to hold these roles. On October 16, 1984, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

His heritage is a mix of Xhosa and Motswana. His wife’s name is Nomalizo Leah Tutu, and they have several children. He was ordained a priest in 1960, moved to the UK to study theology, and returned to South Africa in 1966. He became the Theological Education Fund’s director in 1972, the first dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, and Bishop of Lesotho. During this time, he became immersed in opposing South Africa’s apartheid system (racial segregation and white-minority rule). He stressed non-violent protests.

He began introducing women as priests in 1985. After Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Desmond and Nelson worked together to negotiate an end to apartheid and promote multi-racial democracy. Mandela chose Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated past human rights abuses. Once apartheid fell, Tutu began working on gay rights, spoke out against the Israel-Palestine conflict, and opposed the Iraq War. In 2010, he retired.

And two more quotes of his:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

“Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.”

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu & https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1984/tutu/biographical/

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Photo: “Overwhelm the World” - One of the mountains in the of the Antonio Brown

Michelle Ranee Johnson Photography

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