The Unruly Mystic: John Muir

By Dena Miller tempo@taosnews.com

'Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God," said John Muir, the Scottish-American who founded the Sierra Club and was affectionately known as "John of the Mountains" while widely hailed as the "Father of the National Parks."

For those of us who live at the foot of the southern Sangre de Cristos, who would disagree with Muir when each morning we're greeted by Pueblo Peak towering over us in its wintry magnicence? Who would disagree with him after an exhilarating day on the slopes of Taos Ski Valley? Our mountains are indeed woven into the fabric of our lives, perhaps more than we even realize. Independent lmmaker Michael Conti will be in town with his latest documentary, which stands as both an afrmation of our good fortune and a reminder for us to heed our connectivity to the bounty of nature surrounding us.

"The Unruly Mystic: John Muir" will be screened Saturday (Jan. 26), 7 p.m., at the Taos Community Auditorium, 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. It will be followed by a discussion with the lmmaker during which he will encourage audience members to share their reactions. "This is an experiential event and an antidote of goodness, not a focus on despair," Conti said. "If you're open, it's meant to trigger positivity and hope, and I appreciate hearing how people relate to what they see."

Against a backdrop of some of North America's most exquisite scenery, the documentary delves into the many ways in which being outside in nature proves to be remarkably transformative to our psyches and our souls. To make its case, the lm is generously peppered with an array of commentary from the communities of the divine, the Zen and the Native American. World-class psychiatrists, therapists, theologians, writers and everyday people discuss their personal relationship with nature and its metamorphic e...