Doug Ammons in Hickory, NC, at CVCC

Doug Ammons was here in Hickory this week at CVCC speaking of some of his experiences.

I saw his presentations titled:  "Spirituality and the Natural World" and 

"Adventure as Art:  The psychology of creating with words, photos and film."  

It was an experience for all of us.  My memories of Doug Ammons:

Intensely reflective

Quietly expressive

daringly understanding

Hot as blazes, yet so dam cooool

A plain ole’ country boy, or at least he seems so,

with a black belt in karate and a classical guitar or so,

and a whole lot of academic degrees including at least one Ph.D.

And oh yes, he drives a kayak too.  

Did I mention that?  And a camera or two and a movie machine

and TV sets for Outdoors, and National Geographic and a

whole lot more.

Speaking and listening

he does both

focused and open.

He is a why-asker.   One who looks behind the answers, turns over facts to see where they rest and ask them if they really mean what they seem to say – and then he listens to them.  And they talk to him.   

A guy who loves mysteries and regales the muses, and they love him and hang around him.  Together they explore a lot of mysteries and have ball after ball.

He dives deeply into the depths of life and discovers new horizons down there then rises swiftly, bubbling up  beyond the surface into a world which didn’t exist until just now.  The old world cascades off of his new vision like water leaving the prow of a kayak which is headed somewhere else.  Spirituality can finally shed the anchors and drag lines of religion and become something no prophet ever dreamed of.

To him "Learning" is finding out what lies beyond what you "learn"; it's not a thing you "do", it is a river you ride.  A river of no return, because you are not really "learning",  you are developing into a new being.  

Mind, body, spirit all are a three-dimensional being that is being created by you - and let me quote Doug Ammons as he spoke to us before he left:  "the greatest work of art that will ever be is what you will become.  And you are that great artist."

He is what a normal human being may look like in 500 more years.