I’ve taken countless photographs of sunsets and sunrises. The way the sun lights the sky is an endless source of fascination for me. Sometimes it’s the Sun itself which captures my attention, as it changes colour to become a deep red sphere sinking below the horizon.
But maybe some of the most spectacular events are where the entire sky changes colour. When this happens it feels like you are inside the colour. It’s a shift from standing looking at a far away event to finding yourself immersed in the very heart of it.
I’ve never seen a full eclipse or the Northern Lights but I’ve seen film footage of people experiencing both of those phenomena and what strikes me is how emotional they become. I think I’d be the same.
There’s a difference between standing at a distance feeling outside of something and having the full immersion experience of being within it. The latter strongly stirs our emotions. The former might, but mostly, I find, not so much.
This reminds me of C S Lewis writing about the shaft of sunlight illuminating the dust in his shed and distinguishing between looking at the sunbeam and looking along the sunbeam. That profound shift of perspective to become aware of our existence within what we experience.
After all, this ability to stand “outside” of daily experience is a sort of trick of the mind which we use to create a distance between ourselves and whatever we are witnessing.
The reality is we are never “outside” of reality, of Nature, of Life or of daily experience. We are constantly immersed in the cosmic flow, responding, reacting, participating.
Isn’t that wonderful? To be immersed in the glow of beauty and wonder? Isn’t it deeply moving?
Heroes Not Zombies 
Leave a Reply