NATURE and the WILDERNESS, In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. John Muir
Nature is the bedrock of our human existence and the key to human resilience, health, stability, and well-being
“Wilderness. The word itself is music.” Edward Abbey
Here I am in a small cabin, sitting nestled in a corner window with the afternoon sun streaming in across my arms and into my lap. The window faces southwest out on to a FOR~REST scene of conifers and Aspen. In the distance the blue silhouette of a snowcapped mountain, majestically rises from the plains. Occasionally a gust of wind will rattle the window, and the door will creek against the force, but I am cozy, curled up in a hand crocheted blanket with a vibrant block pattern, enhanced by the rays of the warm sun. It is the perfect setting to let my imagination go wild, to ruminate on the nature of reality, to ponder on who is observing this magnificent view.
What is real for me in this moment, is the Peace I feel, the joy of sensing what is a majestic landscape, boundless in possibility, and breath taking in its splendor. I am here, in the magnificence of Nature in all its splendid glory. Nature is my muse, my inspiration, my mentor. I go to her for answers, for guidance, to quiet my mind.
The vast wilderness scene painted by Nature herself, impresses on me the importance of her in my life, all life. Without Nature there is nothing. Nature is not dependent on human beings to exist while we are totally dependent on Nature for our existence. I let that thought sink in. I retreat into Nature when human constructs become challenging, when I find I am too tired to deal with the stories humanity tells itself, when tragedy rules the day, and l feel resigned to slam the door on civilization and the stage show we call our lives. I am usually drawn to the mountains, and within the mountains the rivers that meander through, or rush with tremendous force as they cascade over giant boulders, fallen trees, sand banks, and river rocks. Down the slopes the water rushes, branching out into smaller creeks just like the limbs of the trees splitting into smaller arms and then fingers. The for rest canopy bursts with hues of green, amber, ginger and spots of burgundy, aubergine too, as the sun sparkles through the leaves that tower over the meandering water, the boulders, and the animals that find their home in this paradise.
9 sec. video of a cascading river on the Diamond Lake trail, CO. video by Karafree
“For the most appalling quality of water is its strength. I love its flash and gleam, its music, its pliancy and grace, its slap against my body; but I fear its strength. I fear it as my ancestors must have feared the natural forces that they worshipped. All the mysteries are in its movement. It slips out of holes in the earth like the ancient snake. I have seen its birth; and the more I gaze at that sure and inremitting surge of water at the very top of the mountain, the more I am baffled. We make it all so easy, any child in school can understand it – water rises in the hills, it flows and finds its own level, and man can't live without it. But I don't understand it. I cannot fathom its power.”
― Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
When I am out in the Natural world, I feel free, I feel again this sense of wonderment, I feel peace, and wholeness. It is not my imagination but a true and powerful experience rising within me. I sense the miracle of life, and the creative ability that is who I really am. Back in the civilized world of rules and expectations, conditioned perceptions I get caught in thoughts that do not serve my creative gifts. I find myself back in habits that rule my movement, and the choices I make in any moment. I feel tethered to responsibilities that may not serve me or others, guilt sets in when I do not perform these responsibilities. In nature I have unbounded energy, the effort to climb the mountain becomes an enjoyable challenge, rather than an annoying task. I am often filled with jubilation, a celebration of the chance to have this experience, I see once again the astounding beauty in life, and the possibilities that whatever challenges I face can be overcome. Nature knows no bounds, its only laws are there for the sake of each of us who is a part of Nature in order to maintain balance and harmony, Nature is not exclusionary. This adherence to the Natural Law of balance and harmony is its greatest attribute for me to acknowledge.
Nature in its glory is rugged, a diamond in the rough, it asks us to observe it, to look close to find the value in it. It has its challenges and experiencing it requires one’s total awareness in it. I learn the clues it is giving me. The photo above depicts Nature’s magnificent beauty while revealing its daunting attributes. We had hiked about 3 hours slowly climbing 3000 feet in elevation. Arriving at this melting glacier we reached 11,000 ft above sea level. The elements are more challenging here. Yet, I have no feelings of stress even though there are plenty of triggers, I walk a little slower to manage my breathing, I take time for breaks to just experience the moment and take in the view. The snow is pink because of an algae growth, an obvious sign that the water nearby is not safe to drink without a filter. The water is icy cold, so we are careful how we choose to walk across it. The rocks are sharp and slippery, and there are prickers, nettles and biting bugs, yet I am not bothered by it.
I listen in silence as the forest, the rivers and the mountain itself chatters away, and instills in me tremendous gratitude for my life, encouraging my creative imagination, nourishing my mind with new possibility and inner power. To look out on the vastness of this Natural world is a mirror into our own hearts, our own ability to dream.
It is, as with all creation, matter impregnated with mind: but the resultant issue is a living spirit, a glow in the consciousness, that perishes when the glow is dead. It is something snatched from non-being, that shadow which creeps in on us continuously and can be held off by continuous creative act. So, simply to look on anything, such as a mountain, with the love that penetrates to its essence, is to widen the domain of being in the vastness of non-being. Man has no other reason for his existence.”
― Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
Sitting on the rocks and contemplating, I come to understand that even in Nature there will be things that I cannot control, there will be things in the for rest, or high in the mountains that will challenge my abilities and may even make some activity impossible for me. To stay safe, unharmed or even alive, I will have to follow certain laws of Nature. Nature’s laws are unchanging, they do not discriminate, and are not biased. Every being that is part of Nature will be subject to its laws. Some laws may be more prohibitive to some then to others. For example, a mountain goat may easily climb a shear cliffside, without consequence, but I would need certain tools and skills to climb the same cliff wall, or I would fall and likely die.
Humans and nature are so intimately connected that acting as if we are separate and abusing nature is tantamount to abusing ourselves. We need to treat our relationship with nature in a far more sensitive manner. All organisms test Mother Nature, and all organisms will suffer the consequences of doing so. WE MUST wake up to what certain humans (if they actually are human, and not evil enemies) are doing to TEST the foundation of LIFE, and the Rules of Nature.
All life wishes to flourish, no living being wants to be infringed upon. Humans intrinsically know this yet many of our actions are destructive to all life, if we continue to remove ourselves from Nature the thicker the veil of separation will grow. Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views said: “A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to set foot in it. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope; without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.”
I agree with Edward Abbey that wilderness experience is essential to human health and well being, without time in Nature humans certainly suffer and lose hope, lose their inner power, motivation and joy in life and turn to unhealthy habits. As you sit on a hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl across the sun warmed granite boulders emerging from the cascading waters of the mountain river, an invisible door opens to you and a new world calls you to explore it, whispers for you to expand your perceptions of LIFE, of living, to examine your assumptions. Time itself changes, you are in a world that has been centuries in the making. The mountains are older than some human civilizations, a certain kind of consciousness interacts with the mountain-forms to create this sense of beauty.
While the scene is peaceful, and the sun still shines, the winds start picking up creating ripples across the water. It’s time to pack up as the southern skies start to darken and an amber glow replaces the bright sunny sky. We see lightening in the distance, and hear the low rumble reverberate across the reservoir. Storms come on fast up in the mountains, and lightening is of great concern. The booming thunder sounds as if the clouds are exploding right above our heads. We see a huge strike streak across the sky and feel the tingling of electricity glide over our skin and raise the hair on our heads we can hear the crackling as the energy passes by us. Although the rain is still in the distance, lightening is of great concern. We put on our rain gear first. The last thing you want is to get soaked, and we move away from the water. We are only an hour from our car this time so begin the hike back keeping a distance from lone trees.
“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.”
― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
“So simply to look on anything, such as a mountain, with the love that penetrates to its essence, is to widen the domain of being in the vastness of non-being. Man has no other reason for his existence.”
― Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
Even though I’ve always known that hiking in nature had many psychological benefits, I’ve never had much science to back me up…until now, that is. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other people. Do you remember as a young child when your teacher took the class outside to read under a tree, or look for bugs in the woods, and flowers in the fields? Did it make a difference in your learning experience?
People with a strong connection to nature are more likely to spend time in nature, and thus experience the wider benefits of exposure to nature. For example, it has been argued that the fascination with nature helps people to knowingly or unknowingly become attentive to their environment when in nature, which facilitates calm, rest, and contemplation.
“To aim for the highest point is not the only way to climb a mountain.”
― Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
Stop often along the climb and take in the view, look around you for the creatures that scurry over the rocks, the lizards that camouflage themselves, the snake that is stretched across the warm sandstone, the spider that spins its web in a small crevice, the little purple flowers that spring from a small crack in the boulder, life is everywhere.
Being in Nature reminds us of our symbiotic relationship with it, our need to dominate it must be exchanged with our desire to work with it and understand the delicate balance of actions we take. Everything we do has an effect. We must focus more on how we become part of Nature rather than the controllers over nature. Nature to me is our last vestige of what is Truth in this world we live in. The Technological creations of civilized society have moved us so far away from our True heritage, from the Truth of who we really are. We are destroying our relationship with Nature and in turn forgetting our own power by replacing it with machines and destructive technologies. I'm losing the precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.
- John Muir quoted by Samuel Hall Young in Alaska Days with John Muir (1915), chapter 4, pg. 216. John Muir
Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail. John Muir
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe. John Muir
- My First Summer in the Sierra , 1911, page 110.
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. John Muir
- The Yosemite (1912), page 256.
"Being in Nature reminds us of our symbiotic relationship with it, our need to dominate it must be exchanged with our desire to work with it and understand the delicate balance of actions we take"
I love this quote, along with your deep and sensitive connection with nature and its guidance. There so much to learn from the journey and you write beautifully!
If we could all learn to walk in symbiotic harmony, the world would be glorious for all creatures, great and small. The history of conservation/environmentalism unfortunately is full of people who may have had an appreciation for nature not for their fellow kindred human beings, and although I know most of my friends and fellow sub stackers who quote some of them are well intentioned, it hurts me in a deep way I cannot fully explain. I feel it so much as an empath I sometimes react harshly to it. So I will try to be as gentle as I can.
The history of the conquering of what is now understood to be The United States is filled with people who did horrible things in the name of beautiful things. I learned this year about The Doctrine of Christian Discovery - these legitimized the taking of the persons, places and things of Indigenous Peoples of what we now call the Americans and what is known to many Indigenous Peoples as Turtle Island. John Muir and many other environmentalists/conservationists had a deep appreciation of nature - while denigrating the original peoples who knew far better than colonizers how to care for her in the beautiful ways you describe us as being symbiotic. Here is an article I think is very generous to John Muir: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/john-muir-racial-politics-and-the-restoration-of-indigenous-lands-in-yosemite/
I know your motives are pure and I didn't know about any of this til recently either. I see a continuing genocide happening of the Indigenous Peoples the world over and it breaks my heart. It's not a past tense thing. So I am really sensitive about this issue because I feel like when people quote John Muir, it kind of sends an unconscious message that he stands for goodness, when really he stands for, in my opinion, a privileged white man who was on a journey like we all are, who fucked it up a lot, learned a lot and yet never took the steps to put the land back where it should belong: In indigenous hands. I have "vibe based" pet peeves against numerous others who are popularly quotes whom I have sleuthed out and one I cannot peg down but I know in my deepest gut he is bad news yet some of the finest people adore him. It's hard to know what you know and have others not see it. It can feel lonely. There are lots of things I don't know that others do that I am learning from others, too. I love your appreciation for beauty and for wanting us all to live in a state of joy and appreciation and wonder. My criticism of the quote and John Muir has absolutely nothing to do with you or your beautiful writing. I feel that when those quotes are used they are an endorsement of that person as an icon/inspirational figure that unconsciously gives our consent to the more subtle forms of genocide of indigenous peoples that continue.
Thank you so much for posting!!!!