who or what takes you "higher"?
the idea of "higher" can have so many different meanings for so many different people...for some its learning extra, grabbing for more knowledge and gaining an advanced degree through higher education...or it's all about doing things right or to the best of our ability, and not stooping down to other's lowly ways, holding ourself to a higher standard...or taking things to a higher level, making life extraordinary and not settling for the average mediocrity offered and given to us by too many others...
for others, it might be finding a higher power in a god or a faith in divinity, giving the hope of life after death, hope of continuing on eternally after we pass from this world. having faith in a higher power is giving yourself unconditionally to something bigger than yourself, a higher order, a higher law for no other reason, only that you believe...or it's finding a higher meaning of life, answering the question of "why am i here, why do i exist?" and the answers are found in the moments of life. like when we hold our own infant child in our arms, or see the northern lights or a total solar eclipse for the first time, or have our doggie greet us so enthusiastically after a long day at work, or that moment you look deep into some else's eyes and know your truly love them...
so "higher" might mean finding a higher love in another special person just the same as us, or a fur-baby who loves us back unconditionally. a higher love that transforms us physically and spiritually to experience feelings to the fullest, inspiring us to live richly on that loving high, to take nothing for granted, accept that love with open arms. making every moment count, no matter what, full of the only thing that matters in this world: love...
right now to take me to a higher love, i have the stars and my adventures exploring this earth combined with the 24/7 devotion of my doggie to help me feel needed, belonging, and deeply loved...but that happiness is missing something, i'm missing the touch of a woman. i know she is out there, somewhere. i desperately long for her. i miss her dearly though we have yet to meet. but i believe deeply in her as i walk my path under the stars. and i'll faithfully seek her out, knowing with certainty she's real. and somehow, someday i will finally meet her and discover i've always truly known her as she has known me...but until we meet, i'll continue to long for the touch of a lady. long for her soft fingertips touching my skin, her lips on my lips, her arms and legs embracing me, me touching deep inside her as her touch flows right into my heart and i ask her if she can take me higher, and she says: yes...
"i ask her, can you take me higher? she answers with a slow blink of her eyes, yes" ― bodhinku, higher
and still to others, "higher" could mean they're just as happy as they can be, they're higher than high, higher than a kite, higher than the tallest mountain, higher than the sky...as is with the meaning for me here on this night under the stars. i find myself so comfortably high and utterly content. i need nothing at this moment. my heart is full of love and my mind is at peace for once. i have everything i need, pure and simple. i am high on life, floating higher and higher up...
drink wine, talk to god, kiss the ground and be as high as the stars at the same time...and remember, your head does not always need to be higher than your heart...
my god, i'd have to be idiotic not to feel higher on this night...i'm under a starry milky way sky in the middle of a warm summer night, in the middle of central washington in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of cabernet sauvignon grapevines covering fields of rolling hills, with a quaint rock chapel topping the highest hill, in a private vineyard that my doggie and i have all to ourselves (with special permission from the owner)...moments all so breathtakingly beautiful, taking my breath away...
honestly, anything that's connecting the celestial to the terrestrial is going to capture my attention and make me feel so high and happy when i see it and take pictures of it...i love the fact this chapel is sitting high on a hilltop of grapevines yet still rooted to the earth, it's reaching higher, and touching the heavens with a higher meaning of a higher love that gives me goosebumps, makes me high...
when i captured this image, the feeling of a being higher than high overcame me so strongly that i already knew exactly what its title would be...i'm dizzy in love, feeling so perfectly insignificant as i was filled with warming thoughts of how i so adore the stars and the milky way and the infinity on high above me...
"be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. then life seems almost enchanted after all" ― vincent van gogh
you will have the right impression about how this picture makes you feel with this being an impression of a christian chapel high on a hilltop overlooking a field of heavenly grapevines reaching higher for the beautiful heavens filled with endless stars, the milky way, jupiter, saturn and mars...
however, you probably will get the wrong impression for what it means to me, because my definition of being "higher" is elusive to me, so hard to define and describe for me, and so much different than most other people...
obviously the cross on top of the chapel is the symbol and meaning of christianity...and although i'm a buddhist and not of the christian faith, i still respect and honor the values and universal life lessons of christianity...some ideals are just good suggestions on how to live a peaceful, giving, and loving life with others that transcends all religions...
even if you don't believe in something, it doesn't mean that you still cannot find beauty and wonder in spite of it all...and this chapel symbolizes worshiping something in which i just don't believe...however, it does stand for universal values of love and kindness, and teaches ethics which i hold true....and further, i find beauty in, and respect those true practitioners of what this chapel truly represents...
so, i see this field of future wine with it's chapel centered higher up in the middle of it all, it's reaching higher, sprinkled with stardust, glowing with rays of love from the milky way, while still grounded to the earth, but touching the sky at the same time...the feeling of letting go, going higher, feeling higher, drinking in wine and releasing myself of all the noise, giving in to the higher powers of the universe, feeling even higher, breathing one breath at a time. soaking in the meaning of my life, exhaling all that's meaningless...
no other title came to mind except the name, "higher" as i heard the chords of the song and lyrics by creed echo through my brain while i was capturing this image under the starry night..."there's a hunger, a longing to escape from the life i live when i'm awake, so let's go there. let's make our escape. come on, let's go there, let's ask: can we stay?...can you take me higher?"
and i'm answering that question for myself. just me, living for me to find my higher ground. to go higher, and higher. finding the happiness inside while absorbing the magic of the universe. i've learned the hard way that i can't letting anyone else help me, happiness must come from inside me. living high, life on higher ground. just me and my doggie besos, we're thoroughly enjoying every moment we get, making each and every single possible moment count...
and just as beautiful, aside from all of the other meanings to me, the pure beauty mixed with the deep symbolism of this image is elevating to my soul...clearly this impression yields yet another universal sign, one for me to follow in life while i discover new and lovely sights, combined with beautiful souls, all sprinkled with stardust and magically unexplainable things along my path these days ...sometimes you just have to have faith in something bigger than yourself, and believe unconditionally in something higher, and a beautiful magic will find you no matter what...
when you believe in something and know beyond any doubt that it's real, it goes beyond faith and becomes the most beautiful truth, it's a higher high you can embrace and never let go, for always and forever...
and here is another inspirational song, full of deeper meaning to help you build a more profound understanding of what i was feeling when i captured this impression...and it is also another tune which carries the same name as the title of my image and blog here before you "higher" by the score ... (just click on any of words in the powder blue links to listen to the musical selection) ...
"i've been up, i've been down, seen the world from the ground. but i hear the drumming, now my veins are pumping. scraped my knees, bruised my heart. it's where you end, not where you start. t see them running because they see me coming. i'm done with the noise that life seems to bring. but i'll use my voice, it's my turn to sing. wooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh...you know that all my life, i have been waiting, i have been waiting for this. all my life i have been fighting, i have been fighting for this dream in my soul and i won't let it go. you know that all my life they try to keep me down, but i just get higher. they try to keep me down, but i just get higher...broke my bones, tasted blood. burned my wings close to the sun, but i'll keep on flying. i'm too young for dying because there's a dream i can taste. think it's time i break my chains and run with the giants. like smoke, i'm rising. i'm done with the noise that life seems to bring. but i'll use my voice, it's my turn to sing. you know that all my life i have been waiting, i have been waiting for this. all my life, i have been fighting, i have been fighting for this dream in my soul and i won't let it go. you know that all my life they try to keep me down, but i just get higher. they try to keep me down, but i just get higher. they try to keep me down, but i just get higher. all my life, all my life, there's a dream in my soul and i won't let it go. you know that all my life, they try to keep me down but i just get higher, they try to keep me down, but i just get higher...they try to keep me down, but i just get higher" ― the score, higher