Peak experiences

I don't know what to call Abraham Maslov but "one smart dude" can get us started. Most people think of him as a psychologist who in 1964 published "Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences."

That book introduced Maslov's concept of "peak experiences," incredibly joyous and exciting moments which produce intense happiness; sometimes they produce a transcendent sense of unity or higher truth. I have been blessed with some filled with happiness, others the sense of unity and truth.

I remember well my first sight of THE LADY AND THE UNICORN, six tapestries - 15th century - displayed in the Musee de Cluny of Paris. Tattered and dirty, they are also among the most beautiful works of art I have seen. Oddly for someone not that interested in tapestries, I had another peak experience associated with the Bayeux Tapestry, only a few hours' driving distance from Paris. The UNICORN tapestries are sophisticated and urbane, created by fine artisans for royal courts; the Bayeux Tapestry - 11th century - is rough-hewn and primitive. Vastly different works produced in my similar peak experiences.

I had peak experiences of the "unity and truth" sorts at the Alamo in San Antonio and in Normandy at the D-Day beaches and also the cemeteries for American, Canadian, French and German soldiers. I felt a sense of reverence toward those buried there which overcame me. As with the tapestries, I also felt sincere admiration and gratitude; no other emotion intruded or even could have.

I have sometimes felt overwhelming euphoria in sports, after bowling a big series, hitting a home run, catching and releasing 150 pounds of large-mouth bass on Hayden Lake one afternoon in my canoe, making a key basket or a long run in

football. The births of my two children were peak experiences. Six grandchildren also brought extreme happiness and unity but from greater distances.

I began thinking about Maslov when I received a message from a friend in North Dakota who described chatting with William F. Buckley Jr., watching Satchel Paige pitch for the Cleveland Indians, meeting and conversing with J. Edgar Hoover, and singing THE SWEETHEART OF SIGMA CHI with its composer in the very house where he had written it. Those were a few of his peak experiences which evoked memories in me. Hey, Bill, I met Mayor Daley, Benny Goodman, Dick Butkus, Roberta Peters and Barry Goldwater!

Do people still have peak experiences? I have not heard of many lately. I read somewhere they can be induced with psilocybin, the psychoactive component of psychedelic mushrooms but I don't recommend that for anyone.

I wonder whether cell phones, computers and iPads have reduced the magical, mystical and exciting elements of life to a series of zeros and ones. Are people today satisfied with vicarious peak experiences transmitted electronically?

I admire technology and loved my many years of Internet teaching for Lewis-Clark State College. I own computers, cell phones, a GPS and have a home office in Hayden where I can communicate throughout the world in seconds. But I would toss those things on the garbage pile if I suspected they were robbing me of genuine peak experiences. I enjoyed seeing pictures of Dawson and Logan, two of my grandsons, hiking the forests and shores of Oregon with their parents and grandmother. But those photos were not peak experiences. I hope I speak for a large number of people that I do not need drugs or a computer screen to rise above the bondage of self and become totally immersed in the moment.

Tim Hunt, the son of a linotype operator, is a retired college professor and nonprofit administrator who lives in Hayden with his wife and three cats. He can be reached at linotype.hunt785@gmail.com.