The views throughout Acadia are breathtaking, as you can see. Ocean, mountains, lakes, trails - whatever your idea of natural beauty, you're likely to find it here. That's not to say that Acadia is the only place to find such majesty. There are wonders of nature all over our country and all around the world.
There are so many different ways people relate to such beauty. As I was standing at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, I overheard a man say to his friends, "Okay, we've seen it. Now how about some tea and popovers?" (He was referring to Jordan Pond House, a favorite park restaurant, where popovers are the house specialty.) I've got nothing against popovers, mind you. In fact, I had myself a couple that day, too. My issue with him is it seemed that all he felt he needed to do was to check the box that said "caught the view from Cadillac" and he was done. Now, that's aesthetic appreciation at its lowest rung!
I suspect that most of the folks there were more in "communing with nature" mode: trying to take in and appreciate the awesomeness of nature in all her glory and connect to it in a personal way.
For me, the beauty around me reminded me of something Eckhart Tolle said. "Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you." In other words, it is the landscape within not the landscape without that counts.
When you really understand that, you don't need to go anywhere. You carry the beauty of the world in which we live deep within your own soul. Ultimately, the exploration of our inner landscape is what leads us to understand one another, because it is there that we discover how much we are the same entity. Places like Acadia simply serve to remind us of that.
Copyright starfishdoc 2008
1 comment:
I'm with you. For most of my life I have been like that guy you described -- check, been there, done that. But after many years of inner exploration I'm getting it.
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