George Harrison once said “life flows on within you and without you.” In addition to being a wonderful play on words, this is a nice statement about the duality of subjective experience.
We each have a universe within our minds, which is ours and ours alone. At the same time we share a common physical world. Life is a constant negotiation between these two realities.
Being in a physical environment (a beautiful mountain lake and environs) that is very different from my usual haunt, I can feel the change in external world seep into my internal world — in this case, very pleasantly.
I don’t know about you, but I often forget just how much the well-being of my inner life depends on the occasional visit to a harmonious environment. As a person who lives a “life of the mind” I too often need to be reminded of such things.
It’s nice to get such a reminder. 🙂