I have heard the expression that when you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. For most of my adulthood, I’ve been envious of those that earn their living doing what they love. That is, until recently, when I risked everything for the slight chance of experiencing this phenomenon.

Have you ever looked up at a peak and noticed that it took the form of something else, like an animal or familiar object? I see this all the time in clouds, trees, rocks, and even some of my paintings. It is believed that mountains are created and shaped by the movements of tectonic plates, climate, and erosion. All basic components of life.

There’s a mountain you can see near Rollinsville in Gilpin County, easily visible off the Peak to Peak Highway, that, to me, looks like a face. As you look at it from the west/northwest, imagine a person laying on their back looking up at the sky. You can see the forehead, nose, upper lip, and subtle lower lip. Perhaps, I have a very active imagination. Nonetheless, it is what I see.

According to scientists, there are four principal names for the shapes that a mountain can take: diamond, pyramid, inverted pyramid, and hourglass. The name for a rock that resembles a human being is called a Mimetolith. Try saying that quickly five times in a row.

Some of Colorado’s popular petrosomatoglyphs (images of parts of a human or animal body in rock) include a rock shaped like a castle in Castle Rock, the Kissing Camels in Garden of the Gods, and the Cathedral Spires above Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I always stop to look at the formations in the mountains. I pretend they’re sending me signs of the direction I’m supposed to be headed in. I also contemplate how they survive life’s tribulations and the things that make them so remarkable. I guess you can say that I am easily fascinated by the little things in nature.

Still, I can’t help but ask questions and relate life to the faces I see in rock formations. If mountains take their shape due to the natural elements of the earth, why can’t I shape my life to fit what feels most natural to me? The answer is that there is no reason why I can’t. As far as I know, this is the only life I have and I might as well live it like the faces in the mountains do. Organically.

To learn more about Colorado’s geologic formations visit: https://www.nps.gov/colm/learn/nature/geologicformations. htm