Day 74: It only takes one person with a vision…
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir, The Mountains of California
The 3 hour drive back from my Yosemite trip was truly “enlightening”. It was relaxing for the body, but not my mind. Swirling about were the rampant thoughts of who John Muir was. Why I hadn’t heard much about him or did I simply not remember? Whichever the case, I was on a mission to find out who this man was and why I kept running across his name on this trip.
After arriving home from the long drive, I felt this nagging sensation as if there was still unfinished business and it wasn’t the laundry that was calling my name. I found myself compelled to find out more about who John Muir was, as if he was speaking to me from beyond the grave. And that is exactly the quest I needed to go on, one of the investigative kind.
As I sat at the computer and started my search, I was overwhelmed with just the initial information that I found out about him. His accomplishments were nothing short of astounding! Wherever do I begin? Yes, at the beginning. John Muir (1838-1914), born in Scotland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1849, he was known as a Scottish-American naturalist, author, and earliest preservationist of the wilderness in the U.S., but his resume of accomplishments cannot be summed up in those descriptions by any means.
- His mother says that his love of nature and his surroundings started at an early age when he tried to escape his strict parent’s efforts to conduct bible study. John would find his way to the woods to escape the study.
- According to the Sierra club website, he was known to have been a farmer, inventor, sheep herder, naturalist, explorer, writer, and conservationist.
- In his 20’s he suffered a blinding injury that left him without sight for a month. The loss of his eyesight was a devastating and life-changing milestone in Muir’s life. Upon the return of his eyesight, he went on a wanderlust where he traveled all over the U.S. and soon fell in love with the land that would be designated Yosemite National Park. It was the loss of his sight that allowed him to see his life’s mission.
- He and other supporters of Muir’s conservationist movement created the Sierra Club on the premise of education, conservation and preservation. Muir was the president of the club until he died in 1914.
- In 1871, while living in Yosemite, he found glaciers and formed the theory that the movement of the glaciers is what created the granite formations. As word spread, the educated community continually discredited his theory, until… Louis Agassiz, leading geologist at the time, read his material and declared the following about Muir: “the first man I have ever found who has any adequate conception of glacial action.” Muir would now be taken seriously for his glacial theory.
- He helped to designate large swaths of wilderness as National Parks. In 1890 Congress approved a bill designating Yosemite as a National Park, though the park would remain under state control. Muir believed the federal government should manage and control the land. Theodore Roosevelt visited Muir in 1903, after reading Muir’s book on national parks. The two outdoor enthusiasts camped under the stars in snowy conditions. The experience motivated Roosevelt to agree to consolidate the Yosemite park area under a federally controlled and managed National Park in 1905.
- Muir was good friends with author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson would frequently write about Muir and his adventures. Muir would carry around Emerson’s book wherever his travels took him. Emerson visited Muir in Yosemite and through some discussions, Muir was offered a professorship at Harvard, of which he carefully thought about for a couple of minutes and graciously declined. He had no desire to leave the region he loved.
- Muir was the author of over 300 published articles and 10 major books. The topics covered included his travels, his conservation and preservation movement and his overall passion for the land that he deeply appreciated and worked so hard to protect.
- Although Muir married at the age of 40 and had two children, it was the relationship he had for over 30 years with his good friend and confidant, Jeanne Carr, that may have been the strongest influence for him to continue with his work. She inspired him to take his talent and share his knowledge and passion of nature with society. Jeanne and John met at the age of 22. She saw a magic in Muir with his connection to nature and his belief in God and in the way he conveyed that belief in his writing and his work. She motivated him to continue even on days when he would despair. Jeanne was married but kept a very close friendship with Muir. She was credited with introducing Ralph Waldo Emerson to Muir’s journey and work. There has been no dispute of Jeanne’s influence on John Muir’s life. Had she not believed in him and encouraged him, perhaps he would have discontinued his dedicated efforts as a naturalist and preservationist without her motivation.
(Jeanne Carr-best friend and John Muir)
- John Muir’s last stand took place over the Hetchy Hetchy Valley Damn. The State of California wanted to build a damn to collect water from the Tuolumne River into a reservoir to help supply water for those living in the growing city of San Francisco. Muir argued this would destroy the valley’s vegetation, wildlife, and landscape. Over a contentious political battle and a plea to President Roosevelt, the project was suspended. Later when Taft took over as President, the project was put forth and the damn was erected. A year later, Muir died after visiting his daughter but the heartbreak over losing this battle is said to have destroyed Muir’s spirit.
(http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/muir_biography.aspx)
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
After reading these details, I sat back in my chair and thought about how one man took the gift of sight and lived every day dedicated to nature’s beauty and protecting the earth’s bounty. I sat and thought about every feeling I had from driving up the winding road to Yosemite and seeing the granite cliffs and domes for the first time. I thought about driving through the valley with the river running through it, to the wildlife frolicking about and the magic of the sun on the powerful waterfalls and fields of wildflowers. I remembered the climb up the staircase to heaven and dipping my toes in the cold river water as a treat for my efforts. And all the while, everywhere I went, the name John Muir kept invading my travels as if his spirit were my personal guide on a tour of this piece of heaven on earth. When I stood at the base of half dome and saw the princess in the rock, it was as if someone were tapping me on the shoulder to bring my attention to it. When I was lost in the woods, I felt as if someone were helping to guide me back. When I stood at the edge of cliff, it did feel like someone was standing there with me… John Muir may have left this earth many years ago, but his hard work and dedication to Yosemite and all other parts of nature lives on, hopefully in perpetuity.
In hindsight, my Yosemite Quest was more of a wanderlust, a much smaller version of what Muir did for most of his life. If I had not stayed in the valley, his name would not have been as connected to my adventures as they had been… Would I have walked away and not even known the man who should be credited to gifting this region to us all? Most likely… I have never been one to believe in happenstance, because that would mean that the events in your life that do occur have less value or simply occurred by random configuration. When we open our minds to the idea that things happen for a reason, more often than not, you can go back and connect the dots and draw a conclusion or create a map of how to proceed. Such was the case with Muir and his ability to connect the dots with his glacial theory and that proved monumental, despite the numerous naysayers! It took one geologist to see the picture the dots created which lent his theory credence and Muir would finally be taken seriously.
“Where is she going with this?”…I am sure you are wondering… I am convinced that every experience we have, every person we come across, every moment that is created has something to teach us. When our plans don’t take us where we thought they would, we should ask ourselves, “What am I supposed to learn from this experience?” Rather than, “Why did this have to happen?” The first question, leads you on a quest to higher thinking, the second is a dead-end question which never has a resolution. Which brings me to my last point I want to introduce, courtesy of John Muir: Enlightenment.
“Enlightenment: The act or means of being enlightened; a philosophic movement of the 18th century marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism also used in the Buddhist religion as a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering.”
Merriam Webster dictionary.
The enlightenment movement was said to have started in the 18th century and the movement brought forth great minds with many brilliant ideas, inventions, new ways of thinking and philosophical ideas that have allowed society to grow both in cognition and self-awareness. Make no mistake, these enlightened thoughts were originally argued to be the work of heretics. But those that brought forth these new lines of thinking were courageous knowing that society needed to grow from where they were, and their thoughts and ideas would take them there through this enlightenment of ideas.
The movement has never officially ended, but I do believe that the movement has been tempered. Part of this could be that many people would rather their voices be muted, heard but not listened to. Maybe they don’t want to rock the boat with their creative thoughts and ideas. John Muir had courage and bravery and sought the opportunity to enlighten the world about the beauty and burden that we have been gifted. The land that was carved by ice is now covered in green foliage and wildflowers with wildlife that dot their landscape. We have the ability to step back and appreciate this gift from the heavens. We have a responsibility to protect and preserve it so future generations have the opportunity that John Muir dedicated his life’s mission to give to us. Muir’s form of environmental enlightenment should stand as a reminder that the enlightenment age is not dead, perhaps just in a restful state. It is time to awaken that spirit… I hope that his words, strength and determination will serve as an example to others that controversy should not be avoided when the cause is just and right. If Muir had retreated from his passion, perhaps we would never have had a national park system. John Muir helped enlighten, inspire and move this great world and country to better heights and greater direction; today our country needs more minds to be awakened, thoughts and ideas to be shared, courage to be re-energized, in an effort to move this great nation and world in the right direction…. the enlightenment era must be made strong again.
“Nowhere will you see the majestic operations of Nature more clearly revealed beside the frailest, most gentle and peaceful things than Yosemite. Benevolent, solemn, fateful pervaded with divine light, every landscape glows and every one of its living creatures, every crystal of it rocks is throbbing and pulsing with the heartbeats of God.”
― John Muir
While I walked the grounds of Yosemite capturing every natural wonder on film, I believe I walked along a path of greatness. A path once walked on by a man who enlightened the world with his desire to share his majestic views and eloquent words. He had the foresight to realize the value in the views from above and from below. He found nature to be his religion, his inspiration, his motivation, his life’s passion. He dedicated his time and energy on finding ways to keep this sacred land in-tact and properly managed so we could learn, grow and appreciate it as he so very much did!
The Quest I thought I was supposed to experience did not happen the way I had planned, no something so much better did. I was introduced to a Qi person that has left an indelible mark in the lives of so many that come to Yosemite and other national parks, for breath-taking views, to center their spirit, contemplate the cosmos under a sea of stars, and for those that desire to see true beauty in its natural state- weathered yet still eye-catching, bent but not broke, strong but not domineering, majestic and worthy of admiration, protection and appreciation… The John Muir trail planted the seed that would take this once shy and sheltered girl on a path of inquisition and enlightenment and to think the journey has only begun!
This day of research has left me feeling as if there is a clearer path ahead with some lofty goals to be set and a man of inspiration that gifted that to me, as I walked the paths of Yosemite. Feeling gratified, with greater vision and full of admiration for this man of incredible foresight, strength and determination.
Thank you John, because some things are just meant 2B… Wondering what tomorrow will bring..
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