I recently hiked near one of the vortexes* in Sedona. I wish I could say that I achieved some mystical connection to an elemental reality, as many visitors to the vortexes report experiencing. One of my companions felt a tingle in his sinuses, but he was recovering from a cold so this was dubious evidence. My experience was mundane but wonderful. I spent the whole day feeling positively assulted by the beauty of the place: the red cliffs against the crisp blue sky, the silver juniper trees twisted from the vortex energy, the extraordinary expanses all around us. I sat high on the crest of a cliff, overlooking a valley with towering bluffs in the distance. I closed my eyes and felt the sun on my skin, the breeze against my face, and listened to the silence that emerges in such peaceful moments. Nothing mystical but magical nonetheless.

* “Vortexes” is the term used in Sedona, instead of the grammatically correct “vortices.” Go figure.