Recently listened to a fascinating interview on the TED radio hour with music director and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Towards the end of the interview, he reflects on the powerful emotional response that music is able to elicit and his observations made me wonder if the desire to preserve a treasured moment is perhaps the basis of art. It certainly describes the feeling that compelled me in my attempts to capture the stunning natural beauty of the Shawangunk Ridge:<\/p>\n
Very often when people experience something which is profoundly beautiful, which seems to be right on the edge of the highest perfection one can imagine, that they have this experience of tears coming into their eyes \u2014 maybe they\u2019re smiling but they still have tears in their eyes. I\u2019ve always asked myself: \u201cWhy is that?\u201d And I think it\u2019s because in the contemplation of something that is perfection, that something in our mortal nature says, \u201cAnd this can\u2019t possibly last. As much as I would like to hold onto this and be in it forever I know that that can\u2019t be so, so there\u2019s this sense of loss and some kind of underlying sense of longing, of wishing one could somehow hold onto it or be assured of returning to it.<\/em><\/p>\n
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