Get outside

I firmly believe a little experience in nature on a daily basis is one of the healthiest things you can give yourself. Looking at pictures of beautiful scenery, reading books about the wilderness and conservation, listening to recordings of rainstorms and spring mornings...these are fine things, but are not a replacement for being out in nature.

Standing at the waterfront this evening, the lake was ablaze with golden light from the sun. Gulls were crying, robins singing, frogs peeping, doves cooing. There is no mimicking a moment like this. Even explaining it in detail cannot bring it to life and soothe a soul.

Yesterday I hiked probably about five or six miles, and today was a long day of high-ropes training at work. Needless to say, I'm tired. A few minutes listening to the animals and sitting quietly at the lake completely rejuvenated me, though. My body is still tired, but my spirit is calm and at peace now. Just being able to be present for a sunset outdoors can completely change my mood in a positive way. 

Intentionally spend some time outside every day near water, wild plants, or some other unaltered natural setting, and see how much better you feel afterward. If you're not close to such a setting, watch the sunrise or sunset. If you're willing, try leaving the city you live in for the sole purpose of spending a half-hour (or more) in a quiet park. Going out of your way to relax in nature is something which can have a profound effect on your mind and emotions, especially if it's not easy to get away. It is worth all the effort you can put into it.

Barlow Sunset

Walking down the path tonight
The lake aglow with day's last light
Drops from trees ahead are gleaming
While seagulls overhead are screaming
Fogbanks rolling, slowly creeping
While frogs abundant start their peeping
And all my thoughts are now congealing
My heart is heavy, full of feeling
Now this is all I ever wanted:
Mother Nature's beauty flaunted
A silence natural yet concrete
With all of nature's speech replete

Old Ottawa

Moon's the brightest light tonight
Orion's out as well
My headlights shine on Old Ottawa
I've missed this place like hell

The crickets chirp and dead leaves blow
As I approach this lonely shack
The door opens easily, as if to say
"It's been awhile; welcome back"

I step inside and the room wakes up
As I turn on the light
And my mind is stirred with memories
Like shadows in the night

The Christmas lights, the wooden bunks
The marks on the wall: still there
I grin to myself as I drop my things
And step out to the cool night air

It's good to have a quiet place
A getaway you hold dear
Once again, mine is Old Ottawa
And I wish you all were here

Springtime in Michigan

Gray and brown
Both in drab concert
A bleakness has come down
Duller than the desert

The robins sing its praise
Through early morning haze
As mankind bats an eye
And sees not what is nigh

So rise up in delight
At your self-wrought blight
Prepare your choicest mode of slaughter
While winged dunes take flight
Voices rolling in meaningless laughter

And now proclaim your victory
Over Mother Nature, see
How humbly, on her bended knee
She worships you sarcastically

Knowledge

So, I am most of the way through the collected works of Poe, and I have noticed many of his cultural criticisms still hold weight today. Currently, I am reading through "The Colloquy of Monos and Una," and one character is in a monologue describing man's thirst for knowledge. Here is a selection:

"Occasionally the poetic intellect - that intellect which we now feel to have been the most exalted of all...occasionally did this poetic intellect proceed a step farther in the evolving of the vague idea of the philosophic, and find in the mystic parable that tells of the tree of knowledge, and of its forbidden fruit, death-producing, a distinct intimation that knowledge was not meet for man in the infant condition of his soul. And these men - the poets - living and perishing amid the scorn of the 'utilitarians'...these men, the poets, pondered piningly, yet not unwisely, upon the ancient days when out wants were not more simple than our enjoyments keen - days when mirth was a word unknown, so solemnly deep-toned was happiness - holy, august and blissful days, when blue rivers ran undammed, between hills unhewn, into far forest solitudes, primaeval, odorous, and unexplored."

He goes on to describe "knowledge" as "the leading evil." Reading this is astonishing to me, as his words seem only to have gained application and wisdom after all this time. Man's thirst for knowledge has been at an unhealthy level for a long time, and our power over the earth far outscales our discretion.

This would be an appropriate time to say, "It's not that I don't like progress," but I can't actually bring myself to say those words. What we view as "progress" only occurs at great cost to our planet. All of our inventions and great strides, while rapidly increasing our knowledge and capabilities as a race, are destroying the planet right now. We take too much, and often what we do give back is even more destructive. Even as I write against these things, I am using coal-powered electricity and thus supporting the destruction of the mountains which I claim to love so dearly.

We cannot live without causing at least some sort of small-scale destruction (just the act of walking is technically destroying one thing or another underfoot), but the effects of our "progress" on earth are now far beyond a small scale. Modern culture needs a new perspective on what makes real progress. I applaud those people who are now living simple lives, consuming less of the world's resources, and giving back in positive ways to both their communities and the world at large. We need more of those people. I hope myself to begin living such a lifestyle, as soon as I find the faith to let go of the system I rail against.

Here is an applicable movie scene. Take a moment to listen and glean the important principles.

Jurassic Park - Lunch

If you know me well enough, you probably know about my obsession with Jurassic Park. Here's something you may not know: my love of this story runs deeper than just loving dinosaurs. The previous scene is, in my opinion, the pivotal scene of the whole movie and contains the central message. Yet even after hearing it, how many of us would wildly support a real-life Jurassic Park? We agree for a moment with Malcolm, but when it comes to real application in the world, we can usually find ourselves siding with Hammond.

I'll leave you with the most poignant quote of the scene:

"What you call science...I call the rape of the natural world."

Peace.

Home is where the heart is

I long for a simple life; a peaceful life. Living in the city has its perks, but it is not for me. Do not mistake me: by "simple" I do not mean convenient. If I wanted a life of convenience, the city would indeed be a good home...but it is not my home, and never will be. If, as they say, home is where the heart is, then my home is across a whole range of mountains, and spans nations' borders. My heart lies in the desert canyons of New Mexico, the rugged wildness of Durango, the grand splendour of Jackson Hole, the friendly simplicity of Moyie Springs, and the silent beauty of Kootenay Lake. These places are more my home than almost anywhere else I have lived. The day now fast approaches when I can finally leave Michigan and follow the setting sun.

Peace.

God and Poe

So, I have been reading the works of Poe, and just tonight I read a story of his entitled, "Mesmeric Revelation." Although I do not agree with all of Poe's ideas, this was one of many instances where I was struck by his brilliance. Allow me to just leave a few quotes and a thought.

"V: There are two bodies - the rudimental and the complete; corresponding with the two conditions of the worm and the butterfly. What we call 'death,' is but the painful metamorphosis. Our present incarnation is progressive, preparatory, temporary. Our future is perfected, ultimate, immortal. The ultimate life is the full design.
P: But of the worm's metamorphosis we are palpably cognizant.
V: We, certainly - but not the worm. The matter of which our rudimental body is composed, is within the ken of the organs of that body; or, more distinctly, our rudimental organs are adapted to the matter of which is formed the rudimental body; but not to that of which the ultimate is composed. The ultimate body thus escapes our rudimental senses, and we perceive only the shell which falls, in decaying, from the inner form; not that inner form itself; but this inner form, as well as the shell, is appreciable by those who have already acquired the ultimate life."

"V: ... The pain of the primitive life of Earth, is the sole basis of the bliss of the ultimate life in Heaven."

"V: But to the inorganic beings - to the angels - the whole of the unparticled matter is substance - that is to say, the whole of what we term 'space' is to them the truest substantiality; - the stars, meantime, through what we consider their materiality, escaping the angelic sense, just in proportion as the unparticled matter, through what we consider its immateriality, eludes the organic."

Now, imagine this; close your eyes if necessary. Empty space, the areas we generally consider free of physical matter...the space between planets, the space between electrons...this is where God resides. All things physical reside within God, and are God's thoughts.

"In him we live and move and have our being." Acts of the Apostles

I would highly recommend reading Poe, and this particular story, if you have not.

Peace.