--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’d forgotten how enlivening it could…" description: "\"“I’d forgotten how enlivening it could feel, seeing clearly and far. Aridity frees light. It also unleashes grandeur. The earth here wasn’t cloaked in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9d/julene-bair-47245_desert_i-d-forgotten-how-enlivening-it-could-fe_3018241.jpg" --- # I’d forgotten how enlivening it could feel, seeing clearly… ![“I’d forgotten how enlivening it could feel, seeing clearly and far. Aridity frees light. It also unleashes grandeur. The earth here wasn’t cloaked in forest, nor draped in green. Green was pastoral, peaceful, mild. Desert beauty was “sublime” in the way that the romantic poets had used the word…” quote by Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9d/julene-bair-47245_desert_i-d-forgotten-how-enlivening-it-could-fe_3018241.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9d/julene-bair-47245_desert_i-d-forgotten-how-enlivening-it-could-fe_3018241.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9d/julene-bair-47245_desert_i-d-forgotten-how-enlivening-it-could-fe_3018241.jpg) > ““I’d forgotten how enlivening it could feel, seeing clearly and far. Aridity frees light. It also unleashes grandeur. The earth here wasn’t cloaked in forest, nor draped in green. Green was pastoral, peaceful, mild. Desert beauty was “sublime” in the way that the romantic poets had used the word- not peaceful dales but rugged mountain faces, not reassuring but daunting nature, the earth’s skin and haunches, its spines and angles arching prehistorically in sunlight.”” [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes how aridity reveals light, grandeur, and a sublime, rugged beauty unlike peaceful green landscapes. **In simple terms:** Desert reveals stark, sublime beauty. Key Takeaway Appreciate rugged natural forms. Themes nature aesthetics solitude Mood contemplative poetic Type literary reflective When to use this quote - nature walks - photography - creative writing Key Concepts environmental philosophy poetics Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to rugged landscapes? - How does environment affect mood? A Different Perspective May romanticize harsh environments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aridity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aridity-569189/) [Aridity Frees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aridity-frees-4872865/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Desert Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert-beauty-2967535/) [Far Aridity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-aridity-4872866/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pastoral Peaceful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastoral-peaceful-4872867/) [Seeing Clearly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-clearly/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) ## Related quotes > [So extraordinary is Nature with her choicest treasures, spending plant beauty as she spends sunshine, pouring it forth into land and sea, garden and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/so-extraordinary-is-nature-with-her-choicest-treasures-spending-plant/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [As to the aridity you are suffering from, it seems to me our Lord is treating you like someone He considers strong: He wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/as-to-the-aridity-you-are-suffering-from-it-seems-to-me-our-lord-is/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [“...nobody ever takes from the desert anything but aridity and monsters...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/nobody-ever-takes-from-the-desert-anything-but-aridity-and-monsters/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/meditation-is-about-seeing-clearly-the-body-that-we-have-the-mind-2/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/artists-are-visionaries-we-routinely-practice-a-form-of-faith-seeing/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [“Derangement - reasoned derangement: that was the key. To break the mould, the chains, the bars that held the flesh and the spirit; to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ramsey-ullman/derangement-reasoned-derangement-that-was-the-key-to-break-the-mould/) [James Ramsey Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ramsey-ullman/) > [“Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/meditation-is-about-seeing-clearly-the-body-that-we-have-the-mind/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [ “\[Seeing clearly\] is not so difficult to achieve, and yet it is rather unusual. To my mind, it is less a question of an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-serge/seeing-clearly-is-not-so-difficult-to-achieve-and-yet-it-is-rather/) [Victor Serge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-serge/) > [“Spiritual awakening doesn’t require a new experience; it’s simply seeing clearly what‘s already happening.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-bailey/spiritual-awakening-doesn-t-require-a-new-experience-it-s-simply/) [Darryl Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-bailey/) > [Sometimes, when I am tired of so many oscillations, I look for refuge in a word which I begin to love for itself. Resting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/sometimes-when-i-am-tired-of-so-many-oscillations-i-look-for-refuge/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [There is danger for the eye in seeing too clearly, danger for the ear in hearing too sharply and danger to the heart from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/there-is-danger-for-the-eye-in-seeing-too-clearly-danger-for-the-ear/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [The sense of self is one of the obscurations that prevents us from seeing clearly, the idea that there is a self or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sense-of-self-is-one-of-the-obscurations-that-prevents-us-from/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Seeing clearly within himself and always able to dodge around the ends of any position, including his own, Shaw assumed from the start the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/seeing-clearly-within-himself-and-always-able-to-dodge-around-the/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [Sometimes what seems like surrender isn't surrender at all. It's about what's going on in our hearts. About seeing clearly the way life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-evans/sometimes-what-seems-like-surrender-isn-t-surrender-at-all-it-s-about/) [Nicholas Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-evans/) > [When we awake it is the animal, the plant, that thinks in us. Primitive thought without the least disguise. We see a terrible universe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/when-we-awake-it-is-the-animal-the-plant-that-thinks-in-us-primitive/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More by Julene Bair > [“To have deep roots in a place means having dead buried there. It is almost that literal, the dead forming your bond to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/to-have-deep-roots-in-a-place-means-having-dead-buried-there-it-is/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“Today, I am a little more ready to offer sympathy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/today-i-am-a-little-more-ready-to-offer-sympathy/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“In the shop, breathing the scent of dusty grease and oil; in the old house, staring into the living room where Dad and Jake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/in-the-shop-breathing-the-scent-of-dusty-grease-and-oil-in-the-old/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“In the dry places, men begin to dream, wrote Wright Morris, who grew up north of here, in Nebraska. Where rivers run sand, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/in-the-dry-places-men-begin-to-dream-wrote-wright-morris-who-grew-up/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“There is really no polite way to put it: Now is not the time to be pissing away the nation's largest aquifer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/there-is-really-no-polite-way-to-put-it-now-is-not-the-time-to-be/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“James hoped the newsletter would garner support from Bahana, or white people, to stop a town well that the Bureau of Indian Affairs wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/james-hoped-the-newsletter-would-garner-support-from-bahana-or-white/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) > [“And now I am sitting in the graveyard, staring at two headstones, and feeling good and bad at the same time. The way we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julene-bair/and-now-i-am-sitting-in-the-graveyard-staring-at-two-headstones-and/) [Julene Bair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) [Explore all 8 Julene Bair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julene-bair/) ## More Desert quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“And now you will ask me about the musicians that played for the jackalope wives. Well, if you can find a place where they’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-vernon/and-now-you-will-ask-me-about-the-musicians-that-played-for-the/) [Ursula Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-vernon/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [I do spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have to pace myself. It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-sinise/i-do-spend-a-lot-of-weekends-on-the-road-i-have-to-pace-myself-it-can/) [Gary Sinise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-sinise/) > [I did not support Operation Desert Fox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-did-not-support-operation-desert-fox/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/there-is-nothing-in-the-desert-and-no-man-needs-nothing/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [Who’s to say that it takes something like a drug to mess with your perception of reality? How did Hitler deceive a nation? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/who-s-to-say-that-it-takes-something-like-a-drug-to-mess-with-your/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“If you build a road in the desert and then leave it to its fate, the desert sands will swallow that road! The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-you-build-a-road-in-the-desert-and-then-leave-it-to-its-fate-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Hulkamania is like a single grain of sand in the Sahara desert that is Nacho Madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/macho-man-randy-savage/hulkamania-is-like-a-single-grain-of-sand-in-the-sahara-desert-that/) [Macho Man Randy Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/macho-man-randy-savage/) > [“The Estate of Solemnity By right, it reigns in its places- in long beards Of spanish moss hanging from a live oak On a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/the-estate-of-solemnity-by-right-it-reigns-in-its-places-in-long/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [The earth itself assures us it is a living entity. Deep below surface one can hear its slow pulse, feel its vibrant rhythm. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-waters/the-earth-itself-assures-us-it-is-a-living-entity-deep-below-surface/) [Frank Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-waters/) [Browse all 1,675 Desert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’d forgotten how enlivening it could feel, seeing clearly and far. Aridity frees light. It also unleashes grandeur. The earth here wasn’t cloaked in forest, nor draped in green. Green was pastoral, peaceful, mild. 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