“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. The mind that responds to the intellectual and spiritual values that lie hidden in a poem, a painting, or a piece of music, discovers a spiritual vitality that lifts it above itself, takes it out if itself, and makes it present to itself on a level of being that it did not know it could ever achieve.” No Man Is An Island by Thomas Merton
I sat on the ground for almost an hour watching the sun set on the Rocky Mountains, trying to be present to the moment and every once in a while pressing my shutter button. I listened to Meadowlarks sing in the distance. I watched two hawks sweep in and perch on the row of trees just behind these. I watched 8-10 white tail deer feed in the field to my right with a watchful eye on me. We were all just being present.
I took this a couple days ago when it was Spring. This morning I have about an inch of snow on my car and they’re are predicting a total of 3-5 inches before the day is over. So, off to a coffee shop for a a breakfast sandwich and a hot coffee, Where’d Spring go? I want the Spring weather back!!!!!
This post is a continuation of the thoughts generated from Earls post on Embracing Chaos and from Tom Dills post on Noise. We all pretty much agree there is visual chaos within nature. I would like to suggest that for some people the sounds of nature may be considered chaos while for others it can be “exalting” music. Music has been an intragel part of man early on. Man has made musical instruments from pounding on hollow logs, carving wooden flutes and violins to our modern mp3 players. Man has chanted and sang for years. Some of us have rhythm and some us struggle to keep the beat. Some can carry a tune and some can’t. I lean more towards the latter of both. When younger I took guitar lessons with aspirations of being a rock star. Due to my lack of musical talent, and dad wouldn’t let me grow my hair long, the reality of that dream quickly faded. Over the past few years listening to rock and roll, country or jazz music no longer appeals for me. I’ve moved away from listening to music or even being around it, choosing quiet or the sounds of nature. So much more enjoyment in the sounds of nature for me.
For me the sounds of nature offers a quiet where the chaotic noise of our society can’t. When March Madness started a couple of my crew members asked me to join them at Buffalo Wild Wings to eat and watch the earlier games. However, attempting to have a conversation with them over the man-made chaos of 20-30 strategically placed televisions is no longer appealing. That is chaos to me. For me the sound of wind blowing through the leaves, the meadowlarks morning song, the cadence of falling rain, or the clap of thunder from a passing storm, or the quiet of a snowfall is a soothing sound to me. Maybe I’m just getting old but it’s natures music that stirs me inside not the beat if a drum.
