The Sublime

We live in a world full of real and virtual connectivity. We live in a world where the sublime, that sense of awe tinged with trepidation and fear, has been diminished by over-exposure. The sublime is no longer sublime, merely beautiful.

Cape Wrath is neither physically beautiful, nor visually awe-inspiring. But there is a very real sense of the sublime. I feel that this comes solely from its physical isolation, the visitor’s sense of removal from all those linkages that connect them to the wider world. I have never felt quite so alone as I did during the week I spent there. And this feeling of being alone was both exhilarating and frightening.