You won't understand the feeling at first because you've never experienced anything like it. But as your eyes take in the rugged landscape and your ears soak in the sounds of nature, it becomes clear the feeling your experiencing on the coastline of Big Sur is something celestial, as if you're standing on the jagged edge of heaven.
Big Sur has been a source of inspiration for writers and artists including Ansel Adams, John Steinbeck, and Henry Miller over the years. Let's take a walk in their footsteps for a moment and get a feel for the place that helped them communicate with such vivid descriptions, and engage others with such intensity.
Ansel Adams
"Surely no more beautiful and spiritually uplifting coastline exists on this earth," wrote Ansel Adams.
Late in his life, Ansel Adams settled down in Big Sur, in what is known as his "last battle." He helped create the Big Sur Foundation, to protect the natural landscape of Big Sur, serving as vice president until the end of his life.
The Big Sur Local Coastal Plan, which limits development, among other things, was passed in 1986, just two years after Adams passed away.
To look out from any bluff is a gift to the spirit. And the beauty and mystery continues down to the edge of the ocean where tide pools are teeming with life.
From the steep cliffs above the ocean to the shallow waters below you gain a new perspective, a new way of looking at everything around you with a greater sense of gratitude.
How could there be so much vibrant life in these isolated pockets of seawater?
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck considered Big Sur "the greatest meeting of land and sea, as if the very ocean had pushed the land back in order to breathe."
Steinbeck spent years walking along the shores of Big Sur. It’s no wonder he described the tide pools in his book, The Log from the Sea of Cortez, with such reverence and knowing.
“We search for something that will seem like truth to us,” he wrote, “we search for understanding; we search for that principle which keys us deeply into the pattern of all life; we search for the relations of things, one to another.”
Steinbeck based his stories on true experiences and his feelings lent his work its authenticity.
Henry Miller
Henry Miller called Big Sur home for nearly two decades, from 1944 to 1963. Miller wrote about this period of his life in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch.
"Big Sur is a state of mind," said Miller, "a little corner of the world where the soul is free to wander and let go of the chaos of life."
His spirit lives on at The Henry Miller Memorial Library “where nothing happens” (as the sign says, but far from true). It's actually a bookstore, nonprofit arts center, and a hub for musicians, filmmakers, and concerts.
Like walking on a cliff or among the tide pools, a walk through the Henry Miller Memorial Library reveals its own world of Willy Wonka-like fascination.
“It was here in Big Sur that I first learned to say Amen.” ~ Henry Miller, 1957
Books hang from tree branches in sealed, transparent, weatherproof wrap to be plucked for purchase. Paintings and photos are displayed on every wall. Soft music drifts through the tranquil property nestled below massive redwood trees. For lovers of books and the arts, it's intoxicating.
"If we have not found heaven within," said Miller, "it is a certainty we will not find it without."
In essence, I believe this is one of the big lessons Adams, Steinbeck, and Miller taught us:
If you practice the art of noticing, Big Sur invites a deep sense of wonder and connection to the natural world.
It’s a place where both the physical and metaphysical seem to merge like waves against the rocks.
Ironically, as I rushed up the trail of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve for a better view, it took the fastest animal on the planet to slow me down... to pay more attention.
I was in such a hurry to get to the top, I nearly missed one of the finest moments of all, a peregrine falcon, (which can travel at speeds of over 200mph), taking a break, less than 10 feet away. Here’s the video:
Slowing down to pay attention to the natural world around us is soul nourishing. And it helps with becoming a better photographer and writer.
Walking the hills, looking over the deep canyons or seaward toward the far horizon, absorbed in the vastness and beauty of it all, I'm convinced Henry Miller, John Steinbeck and Ansel Adams each found their heaven within on the jagged edge of Big Sur - and I believe you can too.
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I’m Michael Kennedy, Olympic Valley, CA resident, married to Nicola Kennedy (in photo above). I’m a writer, photographer, lover of nature, and property caretaker. I just want to say thanks for your attention - I appreciate it in such a noisy world. If you enjoyed it, please share with others. It means a lot to me and it helps others see the story.
If you're interested in owning any photos in my gallery, call or text me at 530.608.9150 with inquiries. My email: michael.kennedy999@gmail.com.
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