Monologue is a DIALOGUE with Silence!

Oftentimes when I'm out in Nature, thoughts about the various aspects of my life emerge full-force. Conflicts I'm having with the people I know, career difficulties, as well as my joys and dreams for the future all surface and begin chattering. At first this can seem disconcerting. After all, the reason I've taken the hike is precisely to move outside myself and to dissolve in the immense beauty of the landscape. However, my perspective becomes more enlightened when I realize that all of those thoughts are only able to occur at all because they are being mirrored back to me by the Divine Presence inhabiting the vast Silence of the landscape. As Swiss philosopher Max Picard says, "Monologue is in fact a DIALOGUE with silence."

 
In another passage, Picard employs a playful image, comparing human words to a ball that children are bouncing repeatedly against a wall. The wall, in this metaphor, is precisely the reality of Silence. Here, sacred Silence serves as a sort of mirror that reflects back to us our own thoughts, filled now with the healing power and love that perpetually inhabit that Silence. The only thing to be done during these times is to allow ourselves - together with our thoughts - to be surrounded and embraced by the immensity of the Silence. As Sigurd Olson says, we begin to have "a sense of being engulfed by something Greater." It is then that we experience the reality of divine intimacy; "hugged," as it were, by the loving presence who dwells within the Silence. 

 Photos: Agnes Lake Trail and the Nokhu Crags, Never Summer Range, CO, November 7, 2014

The land gives its explorers a calmness and imperturbability.

"Mountain men, desert men, canoe men [and women], they are the same the world over . . . They move easily . . . with no apparent strain or effort.  The country has done something to them, given them calmness and imperturbability, the mark of the wilderness . . . , a land of silences, ancient trees, and far vistas."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo:  A canoe and a kayak glide along String Lake, with Mt. Moran in the background and Subalpine Spiraea blooming in the foreground; Grand Teton National Park, WY; July 8, 2012

"Pussy willows are important in the spring.  In a world seething with mistrust, suspicion and clashing ideologies, pussy willows may be vital to the welfare of man and his serenity."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Willow catkins and the sparkling, vibrant Bluebird Lake, Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; June 15, 2012

Under the full moon, life is all adventure.

"When the moon shines, . . . I am filled with unrest and the urge to range valleys and climb mountains.  I want vistas of moonlit country from high places, must see the silver of roaring rapids and sparkling lakes.  At such times I must escape houses and towns and all that is confining, to be a part of the moon-drenched landscape and its continual sweep . . . All life is changed when the moon is full . . . Under the full moon, life is all adventure . . . So, when the moon shines, . . . I am apt to forget my work and responsibilities and take to the open, ranging the hills beneath its magic spell, tiring myself to the point where I can lie down to sleep in the full blaze of it."

Sigurd F. Olson, "Moon Magic"

Photo: Alpenglow blazes as an almost-full moon rises near Estes Park, CO, May 4, 2012

Waiting for spring has a deep psychological impact on us.

 

"To anyone who has spent a winter in the north . . . , the first hint of spring is a major event . . . To appreciate it, you must wait for it a long time, hope and dream about it, and go through considerable enduring.  Looking forward to spring plays the same part in morale building in the north as rumors do in an army camp.  The very thought of it is something to live for when the days are bitter and winter is stretching out a little longer than it should.

"Waiting has a deep psychological impact on all of us and most people know it is not necessarily the waste of time it might appear to be at the moment.  Waiting gives us a chance to realize we cannot solve the complicated puzzles of our lives without considering the vast complex series of variables that have a bearing on everything we do.

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Spring-beauty flowers blooming on a south-facing hillside, Lory State Park, CO, March 5, 2012

Solitude Gives Us a More Timeless Perspective on Life

 

"I have had my share of solitude and know whereof I speak.  It is beautiful to me, for it brings back perspective and the sense of timelessness.  I come back to the friends I have left, stronger, better, and happier than when I went away.  If there is writing to do, my thoughts run more smoothly than before; my perceptions and understanding of life's problems more uncluttered after the cleansing power of solitude."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Lone Subalpine Fir, Aspens, and Anthracite Mountain, near Crested Butte, CO, September 30, 2011

When We Conserve Land, It is Really the Human Spirit That We Are Conserving

"There is a great need for people to come in touch with silence, cyclic rhythms and natural beauty if they are to retain their perspective. . . . It is the intangible values of the land they need.  The conservation of waters, forests, mountains, and wildlife are far more than saving terrain.  It is the conservation of the human spirit which is the goal, and that is what is meant by the good life, one with the opportunity to find peace and quiet
somewhere beyond . . ."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Aspens and East Beckwith Mountain in early morning light, near Crested Butte, CO, October 2, 2011

Primeval Silence and Timelessness are Always the Background of Our Busy Lives

 

"The great silences mean more than stillness.  They are the ancient overpowering silences this planet knew before the advent of modern man . . . The silence . . . dealt with distance, timelessness, and perception, a sense of being engulfed by something greater where minor sounds were only a part, a hush embedded in our consciousness . . . Quiet is a temporary thing, the old silence ageless.  It is the background of our inherent feeling for the earth, part of our inner self and of the cosmic point of view, the core of mysticism, of religious belief, and of myth and legend . . .

"We cannot all live in the wilderness, or even close to it, but we can, no matter where we spend our lives, remember the background [of silence and timelessness] . . . , and remember that days, no matter how frenzied their pace, can be calm and unhurried.  Knowing we can be calm and unhurried, we can refuse to be caught in the so-called rat race and the tension which kills Godlike leisure.  Though conscious of the roar around us, we can find peace if we remember we all came from a common . . . primeval background."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Aspens and "The Castles" from Ohio Pass, near Crested Butte, CO, October 2, 2011.  My wife insisted I share this photo, which is a favorite of hers.

Each of Us Has a Special Listening-Point from Which to Contemplate the Universe

"From my Listening Point I have seen the immensity of space and glimpsed at times the grandeur of creation.  There I have sensed the span of uncounted centuries and looked down the path all life has come . . . Everyone has a listening-point somewhere . . . , some place of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: View southward from the Oh-Be-Joyful Pass Trail, near Crested Butte, CO, October 1, 2011