Here in Colorado - in contrast to many other Western States, where drought is currently pervasive - we had a huge mountain snowpack accumulate this past Spring. Now, temperatures are soaring, and all of that melting snow is nurturing lush alpine and subalpine flower gardens. It is happening very quickly, so I find myself hiking up in the high country even more than usual for this time of year.
On Saturday, I found myself lying down in marshes filled with abundant Globeflowers blooming right next to an alpine lake. The elation such an abundance of blooms elicits in my emotional life is difficult to put into words. However, I find myself caught up in an altered state of consciousness - a kind of joy that serves to "melt" my heart into conscious union with Nature, an exuberance that "spins" together the human, divine, wilderness and mythological realms into a single, multi-faceted Reality.
In this way, the emotion of joy has epistemological value, for it helps me become conscious of the mystical Unity that is always present in a special and profound manner.
Photo: Globeflower meadow, with Iron Mountain in the background, American Lakes, Never Summer Mountains, CO, June 27, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment