Reflection on Yosemite

Have you been to Yosemite?
If you answered “yes,” then you will understand what I am talking about on this blog entry.
If you answered “no,” then after reading this entry, you will certainly make it a point to visit soon.

It’s true – such a place exists. But how? Nestled in mid-Eastern California, these blocks of granite have formed and we decided to call it a National Park. We even decided to include it as a Natural Wonder of North America, along with the Grand Canyon and Niagra Falls. The wonder is, “How did this place come to exist, and why do we value its beauty so much?”

So I had my own reflection on this question. While at the park, I wrote out a mini-dialogue between three people that explored this question. These are fictional characters (names I like) and a fictional conversation. Although, some lines I may have heard here or there that I thought were interesting. Here it is:

[Claudette, Adam, and Valerie are standing at Glacier Point looking into Yosemite Valley]

Claudette: These mountains are just as real as we are. No more, no less.

Adam: Maybe a little more.

Valerie: I’m not made of granite.

Claudette: We give these mountains meaning. Just as we make each other real, we do the same to nature. We are both alive to our understanding of what being alive means. It exists because we make it exist. It is beautiful because we say it is. It is not inherently beautiful, peaceful, alive, or real. We say it is. Not even a mountain can escape judgment and social construction.

Adam: But there is a universality to nature. It is beautiful, spectacular, unbelievable. Just look at Half Dome. It’s a fucking natural wonder of the world.

Claudette: Only because we created that list and put it on it. It is not inherently beautiful.

Adam: How can you deny its beauty?

Claudette: Avalanches.

Adam: It is peaceful and serene. It is white noise. It is OM.

Claudette: Earthquakes.

Adam: Well this mountain here – rain, snow, or shine, is beautiful. It’s on postcards. People travel thousands of miles to see it, or to climb it. Why would millions of people spend money just to look at something?

Claudette: Because people tell them to. Half Dome is popular culture.

Valerie: Bears.

Claudette: Valerie understands. This mountain is a piece of art that we humans decided was valuable.

Adam: But there is no way we could have molded it. I mean, it has been here forever.

Claudette: There is no such thing as forever.

[play song because this is the song I was listening to while reflecting and writing, so hopefully it explains the tone and mood of the conversation better]

Adam: Even if the first people to see this mountain put a certain value upon it, how could it be that everyone who has seen it thereafter has the same opinion? There has to be a universal beauty or realness to it. How can it fit everyone’s standards?

Claudette: It only takes one value judgment or opinion. One admission price. One T-shirt design.

Valerie: Bear attacks. Mosquitos.

Claudette: Universality does not exist.

Valerie: Rainy days. Frostbite. Heat stroke. Sickness.

Adam: I understand what you’re saying. You’re saying everyone has different lived experiences which affect their outlook on something. For example, everyone who looks at this mountain is looking at it through their own, individual lens. Their experience with this mountain or place determines their opinion and value on it.

Claudette: Exactly.

Adam: You’re still not explaining something, though.

Valerie: Deer attacks. Falling down a hill.

Adam: Bad experiences can’t explain everything. How is it that nearly everyone finds peace in nature? People look at nature as beauty, despite negative experiences. Even if someone hiked this mountain when they were sick. Once they were better, they wouldn’t look at this mountain and put a negative value upon it. It would still be beautiful. The sickness wasn’t nature’s fault.

Valerie: Hail storm.

Adam: At the moment it may seem unattractive or disruptive, but after the hail storm, after the heat wave, is what is important. Everything gets better eventually. The beauty is still there underneath.

Claudette: All it takes is one person in your life telling you that nature is beautiful and that work is hectic and stressful. I’m sure that some people look at mountains as hectic and stressful when they have to cross them, such as the Donner Party and the Sierra Nevadas. I’m also sure that some people find work to be peaceful and beautiful, such as a painter or singer. Everything is relative.

Valerie: Lipstick, plastic surgery, high heels.

Claudette: All beauty is relative. Socially constructed. But you already knew that, Adam.

Adam: But why Half Dome and Yosemite? Why not any other mountain range? Why not Mount Rainier in Washington?

Valerie: It is big, and made of granite. It’s unique.

Claudette: The same reason why Picasso is famous and sells his paintings for millions of dollars. We determine its value.

Valerie: Transvestites are unusual and unique, yet hold a lower social value. Some people are big in size and also hold a lower social value. But no one is made of granite. Why can’t we value humans as we do nature?

Claudette: The question of how something receives its value in society is one that sociologists and philosophers have been grappling with for many years.

Adam: How did this mountain turn into a nature versus nurture debate?

Valerie: What doesn’t?

Claudette: I wouldn’t call it a debate, only because there can’t be a winner. It’s more of us trying to reach an understanding from both ends. Neither of us are experts on either end, so we’re sort of starting from the middle of “it’s beautiful, but why?” and working our ways outward.

Valerie: It’s spectacular.

Adam: Okay, so many of us, because of our ancestor’s dependence on nature, have been socialized to find beauty in nature.

Claudette: That’s one way of looking at it.

Adam: How does that explain deforestation or water abuse?

Claudette: Values. We value nature when it’s convenient for our well-being or for relaxation. However, we value certain luxuries more, such as paper, running water, and driving cars. Those, to us, are necessities.

Adam: But so are trees and lakes and rivers.

Claudette: Which is exactly why we preserve the pretty ones.

Adam: Yet we use nature to calm us. It’s still abuse in a way. We use it to benefit us, and only us humans. Even camping can’t be good for nature.

Claudette: I guess if we truly valued its beauty, we’d leave it alone and never look at it. But that’s not how it works.

Adam: Yeah, because we’re greedy.

Claudette: It provides more for us than just natural resources.

Valerie: Calmness, relaxation, peace. We always want more and more.

Adam: But it’s at nature’s expense.

Claudette: Everything we do is. We can’t do anything without harming something. It’s impossible. Yet we weigh benefit and harm. Only when harm truly outweighs benefit, then we might consider ceasing that action.

Valerie: Oil.

Adam: There is no way my socialization is making me say this is beautiful. There is no way this sight takes my breath away only because someone told me it should.

Claudette: Never underestimate socialization. However, it’s not that black and white. There’s always a combination of the two.

Valerie: The sun’s setting.

Adam: It’s larger than life itself.

Claudette: Life is only as large as we make it.

Valerie: Just stop talking for a second.

Adam: Despite negative experiences, this view is inherently beautiful and valued.

Claudette: Without us, it’s just a rock.

Valerie: Seriously, stop talking.

Adam: Stop? But we haven’t yet reached an understanding. Val, maybe you could settle this. Why is Half Dome so beautiful?

Claudette: No, why do we perceive it as beautiful?

Valerie: Because it is nothing and everything. This is the closest thing to God you’ll ever encounter. Fucking enjoy its vastness, greatness, and how it makes you feel small and insignificant. Sometimes you need to just feel like you don’t matter so much. To feel like you don’t matter more than this moment, at least.

[All stop and stare as the sun sets upon Half Dome and the valley gets dark]

Valerie: Unless someone’s blind. I’d be interested in hearing about their experiences in Yosemite.

[finish song while reflecting on conversation and your own experiences with nature, comments are welcomed and appreciated]

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