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.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Imagination allows us to taste rock, ingest it, become one with it, and then embody its qualities in all of our actions.


Sometimes rock, when illuminated just right, seems like something one could eat.  Perhaps a lightly- frosted birthday cake, white chocolate fudge, or some kind of pastry.  The visceral nature of this sort of imaginative experience points, I believe, to the fact that we are meant to take the spiritual presence of the rock inside us, digest it by means of the liquifying capacities of love, let it flow into our veins, and then embody it in all of our actions.  When we become one with the rock in this way, we take on the qualities of strength, self-confidence, steadiness, and the ability to let life sculpt us into something beautiful.  At the same time, our union allows the rock to know its majestic beauty within OUR eyesight, sense of touch, and appreciation.  It is this kind of mutual union that is meant to suffuse every experience of life.

Photo: Vedauwoo rocks at sunset, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY; November 3, 2012

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