Once the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared on my first night of hiking the Inca Trail, I looked up and saw the stars as I had never seen them before. Until then, I had only seen a scattering of individual stars across the night sky. That night, however, the stars were like a blanket that covered me. They had a density that wouldn't allow any individual star to dominate my attention. They lay upon me; warming my spirit and embracing my humanity. At that moment I was at complete peace with myself and the universe. Indeed, I was closers to the stars then I had ever been before.
After several minutes of soaking in the experience, I decided I needed to take some pictures but, I was not able to capture with my camera what I was experiencing through my eyes.
The next night I reviewed my camera's manual; hoping to find a setting that would enable me to replicate through the lens what I felt through my eyes. I knew I just had to include this amazing vision in my blog and DVD. I had to let my students see this powerful experience. But, my camera could never capture that feeling of being totally blanketed my the universe.
This blog and my DVDs are my way to bring all of you with me on my "Great Adventures" but, of course, my steps are my own. My heart pounded as I climbed the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains and my lungs struggled to find oxygen in the thin air. Try as I might; my blogs and DVDs simply can't replicate that experience.
My last night on the trail I had given up my attempts to capture the stars. I just looked up; knowing that moment would be for me alone. The stars made me understand my blogs and my DVDs can never really bring my students with me. A teacher can never really give his students any kind of true experience or even real knowledge. All we can hope to do is inspire others to delight in their own steps; climb their own mountains and follow their own hearts to discover their own "Great Adventures".
No comments:
Post a Comment