Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Beautiful things are able to grip us because they have their own innate subjectivity.


It may be hard to believe, but the colors at Glacier National Park really ARE as vivid as this photo depicts. The bright red shales, teal-colored lakes and multi-hued wildflowers all contribute to the superb, gem-like quality of the park. Such grandeur reminds us that beauty has the capacity to grip our attention and hold us in its embrace. In other words, beautiful things aren't just "objects" that WE decide to behold. Rather, they possess a subjectivity all their own. All creatures - even lakes, rocks and vast skies - are indwelt by a spiritual presence that wants to speak to us and inspire us. We might even say, in fact, that the reason why beautiful things grasp us so intensely is because they want to know and celebrate themselves within OUR vision and awareness. Indeed, the ultimate calling of each and every human being is precisely this capacity to serve as the self-awareness of the Cosmos.

Photo: Red shale rock, Iceberg Lake, and surrounding peaks; Many Glacier, Glacier National Park, MT; July 21, 2014

No comments:

Post a Comment