The pale beauty

When I was younger, my mind often drifted away to exotic destinations with turquoise waters and big colorful flowers. I found the long swedish winter months dull and unmoving. But as I grew up I started to look at the landscapes around me in a different way. I learned to see the magic and poetry in the shy and barren beauty that is so special to the north. The pale light, the bare landscapes and the very slow spring, who even after the long winter still manages to materialize.

Instead of the bold flowers, small forget-me-nots peek up at you. The different shades of steel grey of the water, cliffs and sky seam together like a masterfully brushed painting. The Swedish nature now moves me deeply, and I can't think of a beauty now.

I discussed this with a friend who studies literature, who considers the sublime from a more classical point of view within the field. She did not agree with my opinion that the sublime could be something very subtle. The sublime is to her, by definition, always overwhelming.
I believe that the sublime can be found in the subtle and can move you in a special way within that experience without being overwhelming.
We can agree that nature has the power to move us in that way, obvious like the overwhelming sensation of standing in front of a roaring ocean. Although I believe that the subtleness that the northern landscape represents is sublime as another, not so in your face experience that is one of the greatest treasures when you find it.

Photo, Emelie Nielson, winter, 2012