Nature's True Power
With black volcanic rock petrified below our feet, we traversed the rocky canyon trail surrounded by red mountain cliffs. Not knowing where we were headed and really not caring either, we came to a cross roads. Should we take the Three Ponds Trail or continue on the Hidden Pinyon Path. Deciding the latter sounded more mysterious, we continued the course stepping through red sand and protruding rocks. At times we would stop to take our photo with my iPhone in front of some amazing red cavern. Or we’d have to hold each other’s water bottle, so we could jump down the three foot drop between massive boulders. Novice hikers we were, we joked about how “die-hard” we’d become in the hours we spent hiking through Snow Canyon, Utah – a spot home to the internationally acclaimed destination spa where people come to find inner strength and purpose. We weren’t staying at the spa, but we were lucky enough to share the same serene spot for a few days. Perhaps we’d find ourselves too.
I don’t know how many times we said in pure amazement: “Wow, this is so cool!” or “I can’t get over this!” But one thing was for sure: We were in pure bliss. Two ladies in our early 30’s venturing out into what seemed like the wilderness to us… Yes, we jumped a few times when something sprinted through a nearby bush and yes, we contemplated what to do if we saw a rattle snake, which we knew were out there. But really the only thing that made me run for my life was a buzzing something near my ear. And besides that lonely sprint, we didn’t have a care in the world. This was refreshing for us, since we’d both come to this hike carrying our own unique but similar burdens.
Coming to the trails end, we couldn’t believe our eyes. A lookout point covered with big slabs of volcanic rock, a visual reminder of how this canyon once flowed with hot lava perhaps from a nearby volcano now dormant and ancient. You could see how the lava literally poured over the cliff’s edge, dripping down into the 50 foot or more drop and creeping to an end as the lava cooled, slowed and dried. We sat at the edge, feet dangling and awe struck as our necks turned from one side to the next trying to take in the panoramic views of tall red cliffs with white limestone mountains in the distance, which christened the name: “Snow Canyon.”
It was then that my sister-in-law turned to me and said: “This makes me feel so small.” And it was in that very moment that I perfectly understood the power of nature in regards to finding ourselves and our true power, a mystery I’ve contemplated for years. It’s not that you “find” yourself; you actually lose yourself. You lose the life you think you have. In viewing the grandeur of nature or even in noticing a small flower along a busy street, you and your stories grow small. Your worries, your issues, your ego, the things that hold you back… become insignificant. And then oddly enough, something inside you enlarges. Some say this is your soul or your spirit or your aliveness. Whatever you want to call it, it grows in the presence of nature. Maybe this happens because you are connecting with all that is and no longer attaching to what is not, like distorted perceptions, living in the past, worrying about the future, mental conditioning, things that only exist in the mind. As your life and worries become small, the real you becomes big. This is your true power derived from presence. Love, peace, non-judgment, unity, oneness remains. Now imagine living like this all the time. It is possible and nature is a reminder of that.
As we sat there taking this in, I made a simple comment, but maybe it was a request. “I can just imagine a Native American standing upon that mountain calling out to us,” I said as my sister-in-law nodded in agreement. A minute later, no joke, we heard a noise. At first we were alarmed. Was it a coyote howling? A bird? And then within a few seconds we realized that in the distance on another hill a man stood on the mountainside playing a Native American flute. It was the beginning of a Tai Chi class getting underway as part of the destination spa. We looked at each other, laughed in bewilderment, and then felt even smaller and more enlarged listening to the flute echo through the canyon.
I don’t know how many times we said in pure amazement: “Wow, this is so cool!” or “I can’t get over this!” But one thing was for sure: We were in pure bliss. Two ladies in our early 30’s venturing out into what seemed like the wilderness to us… Yes, we jumped a few times when something sprinted through a nearby bush and yes, we contemplated what to do if we saw a rattle snake, which we knew were out there. But really the only thing that made me run for my life was a buzzing something near my ear. And besides that lonely sprint, we didn’t have a care in the world. This was refreshing for us, since we’d both come to this hike carrying our own unique but similar burdens.
Coming to the trails end, we couldn’t believe our eyes. A lookout point covered with big slabs of volcanic rock, a visual reminder of how this canyon once flowed with hot lava perhaps from a nearby volcano now dormant and ancient. You could see how the lava literally poured over the cliff’s edge, dripping down into the 50 foot or more drop and creeping to an end as the lava cooled, slowed and dried. We sat at the edge, feet dangling and awe struck as our necks turned from one side to the next trying to take in the panoramic views of tall red cliffs with white limestone mountains in the distance, which christened the name: “Snow Canyon.”
It was then that my sister-in-law turned to me and said: “This makes me feel so small.” And it was in that very moment that I perfectly understood the power of nature in regards to finding ourselves and our true power, a mystery I’ve contemplated for years. It’s not that you “find” yourself; you actually lose yourself. You lose the life you think you have. In viewing the grandeur of nature or even in noticing a small flower along a busy street, you and your stories grow small. Your worries, your issues, your ego, the things that hold you back… become insignificant. And then oddly enough, something inside you enlarges. Some say this is your soul or your spirit or your aliveness. Whatever you want to call it, it grows in the presence of nature. Maybe this happens because you are connecting with all that is and no longer attaching to what is not, like distorted perceptions, living in the past, worrying about the future, mental conditioning, things that only exist in the mind. As your life and worries become small, the real you becomes big. This is your true power derived from presence. Love, peace, non-judgment, unity, oneness remains. Now imagine living like this all the time. It is possible and nature is a reminder of that.
As we sat there taking this in, I made a simple comment, but maybe it was a request. “I can just imagine a Native American standing upon that mountain calling out to us,” I said as my sister-in-law nodded in agreement. A minute later, no joke, we heard a noise. At first we were alarmed. Was it a coyote howling? A bird? And then within a few seconds we realized that in the distance on another hill a man stood on the mountainside playing a Native American flute. It was the beginning of a Tai Chi class getting underway as part of the destination spa. We looked at each other, laughed in bewilderment, and then felt even smaller and more enlarged listening to the flute echo through the canyon.
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101 daybook
