after hiking down steep slopes through snow covered forest hills in the rain, deep down into a gorge to get to this enchanting place, i stood in awe and wonder. i was surrounded by my favorite colors, engulfed in the sound of roaring water, lost in the wonderful scents of the forest, just taking in all the beauty with all my senses. all was so profoundly spiritual to me...
i was soaked from the hike down, from the falling rain, from falling occasionally in the slick snow, and from having to walk through a couple waterfalls...but it did not matter and i did not notice or pay it any heed. i even forgot i was a photographer, as i just stood there and took everything in, not bothering to even consider taking out my camera gear yet...
i just stood there and witnessed what nature was showing me, mesmerized and lost (in a good way), just standing there and listening to what nature was trying to tell me...all the while, angelic music swirling around my head with john denver's words filling up my mind: "you fill up my senses, come fill me again..."
there's always messages in the beauty of nature...
pictured here with its pure blue waters, this free-flowing stream and its spirited falls speak directly into my soul. they tell a spiritual lesson, if only i pay attention and listen to them...
"live life unbound and never let anyone or anything hold you back or control you...just let go of your restraints; express yourself, be free-spirited and let your amazing true colors flow freely...once you do this, you'll be guided by all that is natural and real from your heart and soul, you will abide by your inner truth and your spirit will soar..." ― bodhinku, spiritual
one common trait in us humans is our spirituality and the belief our spirits live on in an afterlife...that is all fine and great for later, but what about now?
thoughts of the afterlife are all peachy, but to live life fully now, we need to become just like the stream. we must look to our inward flow and trust what our own spiritual soul tells us...
we must see through all the people and things trying to control us...
my god, how useless it is running around in circles on the hamster wheel, endlessly trying to make as much money as possible so we can buy as many material things as possible, things we really do not need, things disposable when the newest next best thing comes around to replace them all...we cannot let the things we own, end up owning us...plus we desperately cannot also fall into the popularity traps of social media trying to be noticed, or listen to the relentless blather of political rhetoric to guide us to a better life...
"the things you own end up owning you. it's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything" ― chuck palahniuk, fight club
"they subjugate the meek, but it's the rhetoric of failure...where does the answer lie? living from day to day. if it's something we can't buy, there must be another way...we are spirits in the material world..." ― the police, spirits in the material world
we must be spirits in this world, we need to live freely, just as water flows in a wild stream and down a cascade, it's free-spirited to flow and fall wherever and whenever it needs...
get off the computer and leave your phone in your pocket. seek the reality around you. go out into nature and see it with your own eyes, not with the eyes of a lcd screen...
go out into nature, push your limits, discover beauty you have never seen, beauty that does not need to be shared, except with those you love and want to surround yourself amidst...
i implore you to live not in the cyberworld of a computer screen, a world that will only imprison your mind...instead live in nature. live in beauty. be alive in the true reality right before your own eyes and all your senses!
i know where my spirit lies. it lies with nature. in the blue waters of a cascading stream. in the leaves of a japanese maple tree. in the reflection of the stars in a pool of water. in the puffy pink clouds at sunrise. in the warmth of the sun as it touches the ocean at sunset. in the snow atop a high sierra peak. in the bird's song outside my window...let these fill up my senses, let them come fill me again...
"we need to be like the wild stream and just flow free, on our own accord, to where we know in our hearts that we need to go, and where we need to be spiritually" ― bodhinku, spiritual
i alluded to this tune with a quote above...and this song is my absolute favorite john denver song (and truly my favorite love song of all time because of its meaning to me)...with its lyrics it just fits so perfectly with the meaning of this impression/blog and all the feelings i was experiencing, all the emotions filling me up as i stood there and was lucky enough to capture this beautiful scene... "annie's song" by john denver ... i sound old, but they just do not make beautiful and sweet love songs like this anymore...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the song)...