Mountain Muse
El Nido de los Condores, High Camp 2, Aconcagua
What makes me so drawn to the mountains? As I look up toward them, I wonder why they incite such a soft feeling of awe. What makes them so captivating?
Could it be that I am put to such reverence by their majesty because they are a reflection of me? Do I love them so because I see how tall they stand, how they rise from such tumultuous conditions beneath their base, far from the seeing eye?
Do they mirror back to me my own ability to rise?
Do those who are also most drawn to the mountain see a chance to recognize & honor the parts of themselves that they most love? Do they most cherish their resiliency? Are they most proud of their ability to survive the harshest conditions?
The mountains draw a certain kind of person to them. People who like to be immersed in challenge and in rapidly changing and volatile elements. People who can dig deep within themselves to overcome whatever comes their way. People who like to test their limits so they have proof that they are invincible. People who may think that life has to be hard based on their upbringing.
Similarly, do those who are most drawn to the ocean see their own profound depth, flow, & ability to be at peace reflected back to them?
The oceans lures a certain kind of person to them. The kind of person who loves to love life. The kind of person who can play for hours. The kind of person who can sit in stillness. The kind of person who can enjoy life just as it is with its simple pleasures of warmth, a shining sun, a cool breeze, & a steady rhythmic music. People who think deep as the ocean’s depth. People who can honor peace amidst crashing waves.
Do the mountains & oceans merely give us a universally acceptable means of recognizing, honoring, & expressing that which we so love about ourselves but we feel we cannot? In a world that teaches us to be humble to a fault, do such creations of nature give us permission to give praise to something so akin to ourselves?
Is the beauty of nature, & all things, & all people, just shining back to us our own beauty?
Por lo menos…isn’t it nice to think that that which we so admire is really just showing us what we so love about ourselves?
