the sublime

*Excerpts from Longing for the wilderness by Marjan Slob

Since the 18th century... the term "sublime" has stood for the duality of experiencing something deeply within because of something outside of yourself, something that's very clearly bigger than you. That which you desire but which also scares you. Think thunder, lightining, volcanoes, storms, cascading waterfalls or violent seas.

"Man should imagine the overwhelming and endless, thereby  rising above the mundane and begin to understand the pure intent of his existence." - On the Sublime by Longinus.

Distinction between beauty and the sublime:

``Beauty brings you a sense of serenity and gives you the impression that God`s world is orderly and good,``-- Edmond Burke, 19th Century philosopher.

 He posits. The sublime, by contrast, is the overwhelming, which could destroy you. Where beauty relaxes, the sublime makes you tense your muscles.

How different it is in the domain of the sublime! There, self-preservation is the crucial passion. Pain and ecstasy are intertwined; that`s a radical statement, a true break from previous ideas.If you truly want to experience the sublime, according to Burke, then you will find yourself in territory where you`ll risk spiritual and physical pain -- to the extent that it activates your instinct for self-preservation.

A sublime experience is a wonderful, potentially life-changing experience, which allows you to feel the enormity of the existence you are a part of. At the same time, it`s an uncomfortable feeling, because it is so deeply personal and grounded in a realization of fragility and mortality.

 

Wilderness is where the sublime is found

The true experience you can have in the wilderness is very clear in its meaning: It`s an experience that puts you in your place. One that makes clear that there is a fine line marking how far you as a tiny human can go.





 Where to find it?

For someone with an aptitude, even observing a spiderweb can lead to a sublime experience. Look the spider has woven her web in the corner of a bus shelter, near the light fixture that attracts flies! And suddenly the view changes. You feel yourself flowing outward. You are the spider, you are the fly. The spider in you weaves webs on instinct; the fly in you is stuck in the web.