“What if you wake up some day, and you’re 65 or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.”
Ah Mountains! Providing peace, sustenance, beauty and strength.
They bring a felt sense for me that is very powerful and deeply comforting. I am embraced and absorbed by them. Completely.
The mountains truly and always are a balm for the soul and provide a cleansing for the spirit. I do so love living amongst these sentinels of abiding serenity and power.
“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
-John Muir
“Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
-John Muir
“The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change.”
-Thomas Wolfe
“The greatest gift of life on the mountain is time. Time to think or not think, read or not read, scribble or not scribble — to sleep and cook and walk in the woods, to sit and stare at the shapes of the hills. I produce nothing but words; I consume nothing but food, a little propane, a little firewood. By being utterly useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself.”
-Philip Connors
“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
-John Muir
“Mountains seem to answer an increasing imaginative need in the West. More and more people are discovering a desire for them, and a powerful solace in them. At bottom, mountains, like all wildernesses, challenge our complacent conviction – so easy to lapse into – that the world has been made for humans by humans. Most of us exist for most of the time in worlds which are humanly arranged, themed and controlled. One forgets that there are environments which do not respond to the flick of a switch or the twist of a dial, and which have their own rhythms and orders of existence. Mountains correct this amnesia. By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage, mountains refute our excessive trust in the man-made. They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us.”
-Robert Macfarlane
“Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.”
-Anatoli Boukreev
“Emerald slopes became so tall they touched the clouds, and showers painted diamond waterfalls that sluiced down cliff sides.”
-Victoria Kahler
“The mountain has left me feeling renewed, more content and positive than I’ve been for weeks, as if something has been given back after a long absence, as if my eyes have opened once again. For this time at least, I’ve let myself be rooted in the unshakable sanity of the senses, spared my mind the burden of too much thinking, turned myself outward to experience the world and inward to savor the pleasures it has given me.”
Wandering and wondering. Two compelling ways of spending some good quality time.
Some sweet breathing time. Some simple pleasures time. Some deepening into all of who you are time.
Go out with nothing more to do than to be present with wonder, and wander freely, with open heart and mind. Sustaining and fulfilling this wandering and wondering…
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.”
“I’d rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than anywhere else on earth.”
– Steve McQueen
I sort of live in the middle of no-where… at least many people may think so. And I’ve thought a lot about that.
But it’s always someone’s somewhere isn’t it? These woods with the tall trees are home to fox, elk, ravens, bear, coyote, wolf, and myriad wild flowers. Life comes and goes in its natural cycle. The days too are in sweet rhythm… the whole of this living system together is complete and vibrant and I feel that way amongst this radiant Life.
Living in the middle of nowhere to me is much like the concept that the Native Americans and this land were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus. As if they didn’t exist until they were told who they were by the newcomers.
Yes, nowhere is always somebody’s somewhere. Somewhere special and unique and valued.
This particular No Where is my greatest gift.
Its quiet and wholeness help me find the essence of who I am.
“No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.”
-Sheryl Crow
“You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you.”
Summertime and the livin’ is easy. And simple. And very sweet.
Feeling the energy of the fully evolved season, we meet Summer head on… then need a rest, a nap, a respite.
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.”
-John Lubbock, “Recreation,” The Use of Life, 1894
From The Sapphire Girl’s August book club “extra” selection, The Art of Doing Nothing, by Veronique Vienne, here’s some sage advice on napping inside (but hammocks under a shade tree are also highly recommended!):
“Recipe for a Gourmet Nap
The long afternoon nap is for sleep connoisseurs – it’s an after-dessert delicacy. To make sure you wake up refreshed, follow these easy steps.
1. If you don’t have shutters, draw the blinds or the curtains. The room should be bathed in a soft, restful glow. 2. Kick off your shoes. Only remove garments that are constricting or that would rumple badly. You want to be somewhat dressed up for the occasion. The gourmet nap is a formal affair. 3. Glance at the clock, take off your watch, and decide when you want to wake up. Trust your subconscious to nudge you when your time is up. 4. Lie down under the covers but not between the sheets. 5. Close your eyes and image that you are in a small boat, about to embark on a short journey. Pull up the anchor and let the boat drift. The water may feel choppy at first, but soon the waves will diminish and you’ll be sailing on a smooth sea. 6. You’ll be awakened by a bump – your keel is scraping a sandy bottom. Drag yourself out of bed slowly, as if you were pulling your skiff onto a beach. 7. Throw water on your face, stretch, open the window. Don’t rush. You’ve plenty of time ahead of you.”
Is there anything more peaceful and powerful to the soul’s experience than the rhythm and power of surging, moving water? Torrents of water are falling from the sides of mountains everywhere now. Where the water narrows into smaller and smaller spaces the intensity builds to a crescendo of power and music.
Negatively charged ions are showering us when near this powerful movement of water. This is a good thing!!
From the article “Ions and Consciousness” in the magazine “Whole Self”:
Technically speaking: “Ions are charged particles in the air that are formed in nature when enough energy acts upon a molecule such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, or nitrogen to eject an electron from the molecule leaving a positively charged Ion. The displaced electron attaches itself to a nearby molecule, which then becomes a negatively charged Ion. It is the negative ion of oxygen that affects us the most.”
I also read from Comtech Research: “the normal ion count in fresh country air is 2,000 to 4,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter (about the size of a sugar cube). At Yosemite Falls, you’ll experience over 100,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter. On the other hand, the level is far below 100 per cubic centimeter on the Los Angeles freeways during rush hour.”
So, get out to the rushing, moving water! Feel the positive energy all ’round and Breathe!
“As many raindrops join to form a great river of water,
many souls join their highest intent to form
the river of evolved consciousness.”
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Searching, absorbing teachings, reading the masters, sitting in meditation, being with nature… all in the quest for “enlightenment”.
The seeking for the deepest truths is a lifelong quest, but the journey to enlightenment finds us right where we started… in this very moment, being truly and uniquely who we are. Knowing the creative potential in the moment, with focused, savoring, attention on the be-ing-ness of living, takes me as close as I think I’m going to get to enlightenment – and it is enough.
As the quote goes:
“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”
flowers. Life comes and goes in its natural cycle. The days too are in sweet rhythm… the whole of this living system together is complete and vibrant and I feel that way amongst this radiant Life.
From The Sapphire Girl’s August book club “extra” selection, The Art of Doing Nothing, by Veronique Vienne, here’s some sage advice on napping inside (but hammocks under a shade tree are also highly recommended!):
“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”