Shifting Perspectives
10/12/2012
I’m not sure if anything excites and calms me as much as the ocean. The first sight of that great big blue from a car window never fails to stir my soul. It suddenly transports me back to childhood memories and the thrill of anticipation—all the fun, adventure and exploration waiting to be had. Then, I remember that I grew up going to the beaches around Florida and Georgia, and the beauty of seeing the Pacific ignites a new sort of eagerness for me, one filled with traveling to new places and experiencing something different.
I enjoyed all this when I visited Big Sur recently. I had planned a camping trip there back in ’08 and received a phone call while enroute telling me not to come—the campground was being evacuated due to wildfires. So, this trip held a special excitement for me as it was my first visit to that gorgeous region. I got to take in all sorts of breathtaking coastal views driving along Highway 1 and even experienced the treat of seal-watching. I was looking forward to hiking and exploring the area, so I was disappointed when I awoke on our big hiking day to find everything shrouded in dense fog. Although, given that we were at the coast, I suppose I couldn’t be too surprised, and I was definitely grateful to have traded in the typical August heat of the Sacramento Valley for 70 degree temperatures. We determinedly began what was supposed to be a great hike with “expansive views of the coast” with the hope that the fog would burn off by noon. That seemed reasonable enough, right? As we walked along up a steady incline, we found that we could not see more than a few feet of mountain all around us. However, I did enjoy the peacefulness provided by the fog, noting the occasional bird singing and basking in the variety of wildflowers—bright yellow spirals, tiny red blossoms, pink-and-white pom poms. We continued on for several miles, curving around mountains, moving between dried golden fields and lush green forests, enjoying the sights that we could see within a few feet radius.
While it was a soothing journey, it wasn’t exactly offering the vistas I’d had in mind. We continued on, reached our end point and decided to head back down the trail. After all, we had plenty of other of exploring to do in Big Sur. The fog level hadn’t changed much into the afternoon. In fact, we commented that the fog may be thickening, instead of clearing up as the day progressed. As we hiked, I lost myself in the moment and the repetitive, almost meditative, motion of walking when I glanced up to see a small gap in the fog and got excited to see a glimpse of the ocean! I pointed out the opening, and we both stopped to look out. We’d curved around so much that I’d lost track of where we were in this world of fog. Then, we realized that the entire fog level seemed to be shifting, almost as if a curtain was being pulled up and more of the ocean started coming into sight. In what felt like a matter of seconds, the dense fog layer which had been covering the entire mountain rolled out, and we were suddenly staring at a gorgeous green mountain chain etched by the jagged shoreline to the north and south and with nothing but immense ocean to our west. It was a spectacular sight! We had gone from bleak grayness and uncertainty about the surrounding area to an impressive view of bright blues and greens and golden sunshine. Yet, we hadn’t moved an inch! I realized that my perspective was entirely different.
And, it made me wonder how often our lives would be different if we could shift our perspective. What if we could wait out the pain and suffering until those feelings subsided and we got to enjoy the beauty underneath? Or, what if we could hold firmly to the knowledge that the world has more to offer than what we currently see?
Finish reading at 2012/10/05/shifting-perspectives/
