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.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

It is the contrasts of life that bring meaning


To capture something of the spirit of this Columbine most effectively, I arrived just after sunrise, when the bloom was lit up while the surrounding meadow was still in shadow.  Moments like this remind me of the fact that a similar situation occurs all during our life here on earth.  We can only appreciate birdsong because of the contrasting silence that occurs between the notes.  Mountains loom so large only because of the surrounding valleys and plains.  Similarly, we only know intense joy because of periods when nothing much seems to be happening.  And moments of epiphany - of revelation, meaning and spiritual insight - occur only because they answer persistent questions that arise through our having to face the seemingly meaningless challenges of life.

Photo: Colorado Columbine near Lookout Lake; Snowy Range, WY; August 25, 2013







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