After three long hours, your thighs are burning, your throat is parched, your shirt is drenched with sweat but you finally made it. You completed the uphill trek and now, as you stand on the very top of the mountain you look down to the most breathtaking, astonishing view you’ve ever witnessed in your entire life. The waterfalls, the lush greenery, and the sun kissing the top of the hills that surround you. The beautiful crisp wind blows across your face and instantaneously your thighs seem at ease, your throat is a little less dry and the wind cools the sweat that drips down your back.
You look down to the abyss of scenery, you look up to the clouds, you look to your right and then to your left and for a split second you question the reality of the presence that surrounds you. That very view at the top of the mountain is direct representation of the type of consciousness that William James refers to. Consciousness, so personal and unique to everyone individually, is as personal and unique as that very view from the top. To me, the view from the top of the mountain is my personal slice of heaven. Consciousness will never be experienced the same exact way by two people and one’s thoughts only belongs to themselves the same way how that view only belongs me to. You and I can both be standing on the very same mountain at the very same time and experience two completely different experiences. You can be complaining about the dirt under your fingernails and the ache in you lower back while I breathe in and digest the world that surrounds me.
Numerous emotions run wildly through my head as I stand and admire the world’s natural beauty while wishing I never have to leave. This view represents our way of being conscious of several different things all at one time. As I stand on the top of the mountain and ponder about life, where it has taken me and where I plan to go, I am unaware of all the conscious feelings and senses that engulf not only my head but my body as well.