“High places” can mean many things, including:
- Geographically high places (mountains, polar regions)
- Aesthetically sublime high places (beautiful mountain landscapes)
- Materially and symbolically high places (sacred mountains)
- Metaphorically high places (moral high ground, achievement, status, power)
Cartographers have long struggled to visually map the magnitude, beauty, and complexities of geographically high places (Appleton, 1994). Did you know that the mapping of Antarctica was only finalized in 1997? Thanks to imagery from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA (Cosgrove & Della Dora, 2008, p. 9).
I live near mountains, so I experience awe and wonder every time I go outside. It never gets old!
Research tells us what we know from experience—that observing a beautiful mountain landscape in person promotes a mindset of freedom, creativity, and abstraction (Shores et al., 2023; Vartanian et al., 2015; Appleton, 1975).
In particular, the feeling of awe has been found to inspire us to reach beyond our self-boundaries and pursue alignment with our “authentic self” (Jiang & Sedikides, 2022). Awe is defined here as a “challenge that exceeds the scope of one’s mental structures, requiring cognitive accommodation”…such as the vertical vastness of a mountain.
So, when I think of high places, I’m reminded not only of the mountains around me but of that feeling of awe. It’s part of my everyday life, providing endless inspiration and motivation.
What are the high places in your life?
