Monday Morning, 2012
I was watching a documentary about our national parks yesterday evening and there was something said about natural wide open spaces being where we find our true selves, or something along those lines. I adore these natural spaces, but fail to believe that we cannot tap into our true selves in other ways as well. We are resourceful beings.
Standing on the sand and seeing the Mediterranean Sea for the first time can be a spiritual experience, and hiking through a forest of enormous redwoods can feel transcendent, but the view from a 50th floor window above Manhattan, with the quiet city below, does have its merits, as does being up just a few floors in a Paris apartment and looking out over a stretch of beautiful rooftops. Sometimes just lying down in the grass (or on the hood of your car) and gazing up at the sky is enough.
We all need a special place to go when we seek answers. A place where we can breathe slow and deep, and clear our heads.
I've had so many of these places. They exist in all the landscapes I've lived and many I've only visited.
I don't know if I crave vastness more than other people, but I do believe crave is the best way to describe it. Feeling confined or stifled, without a doubt, brings out the worst in me.
When the landscape is unavailable I can sometimes create the state of mind without the place. It's tricky, but possible.
However I arrive, it is where I find my best thoughts, or at least the seeds that allow them to grow later. This was my place today.
Denise: timely post (for me). I have definitively enjoyed being in the wide open spaces this summer and that is priceless. But when I returned I made a point that I would be looking for the horizon line even when back in the city. Waking up early and going for a walk in the neighborhood, being up late and catching the stars when the city lights turn off, finding the most hidden place at the local park, making a point to drive to a wood nearby on the week-end... can all be that quiet space. I hope you continue finding these secret spaces all around you. And when all fails, going through old photos of the vast expanses and wonders of nature visited previously, can be equally rewarding
ReplyDeleteSo awesome, Amelia. It is easy to return home and let go of the beautiful lessons we learned while on vacation. I like the way you've incorporated those lessons into your day-to-day.
DeleteI get it, as I think you know.
ReplyDeleteYour place is beautiful.
Memory is a great place to visit when I am craving those landscapes I cannot see. And daydreams. They give me room to breathe and ease the ache of confinement. Almost.
ReplyDeleteseems like a good place - maybe i´ll try to visit in my thoughts...
ReplyDeleteMy own special space, in those troubled times when I haven't caught up with my soul, is within a one metre radius of the glacé cherries, ideally the slightly smaller darker ones. There is, of course, something to be said for nature as well.
ReplyDeleteSo wise and true that places open, quiet, and peaceful can be found in a variety of ways and not just in unpopulated locations. I've been thinking of stretching my wings a bit and finding a few more favourite spots in the city.
ReplyDeleteI rarely think to try to create the space when the situation is not ideal, and I'm wondering how you do it. Care to share?
ReplyDeleteSure. It almost inevitably stems from desperation. I'll be in a situation where I feel trapped and I'll make do, in just about any way possible, to get where I need to be. I'll walk down a busy street, ignoring all noise and traffic, and somehow clear my mind. I'll sit down on the back steps with a notebook and enter my own world. I remember staying up late, dead tired, in a shared hotel room (conference a while back) and reading in an empty bathtub. Whatever works.
DeleteMy favorite time to recreate the place is when I'm lying in bed right before sleep.
ReplyDeleteThis is how I self medicate.
xo Jane
Open space is just what I am craving today and of late. I live inner city but without Parisian rooftops to quiet my mind. A day trip to the country is what is needed. Your description has made it clear in my mind. Many thanks, Louise
ReplyDeleteAh Denise, you always find the right place for you at the right time. My ideal place would always involve water--but you are right--they can be found just about anywhere even in our minds.
ReplyDeleteI'm not always sure of where I need to be in order to clear my head but I agree it doesn't have to be the top of a mountain to be idyllic. I know I'm where I should be, whether perched on a fire escape or floating in a swimming pool, when I feel all the pent up frustration and gloom melt away and I am entirely in the the moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amelia on going through old photos...I've been doing some of that lately. Being an East Coast girl I had not experienced a whole lot of vastness as a child. The most expansive vistas for me were in Namibia- and it was something to behold. But instead of finding my true self, so to speak, I was mostly just humbled by the vastness. I became very small in that landscape - perhaps that held its own comfort, just to be reminded that whatever is going on in my life is indeed insignificant in the face of nature and the roughness of it.
ReplyDeleteYes. We are each just a small dot in the whole scheme of things.
DeleteTimely post for me too at the moment Denise, thank you for sharing. I too often get overwhelmed by that feeling you describe of craving vastness. Seeing the horizon every now and then definitely helps to lift you up out of your head and see with clearer eyes. Having received some bad news this week your post reminded me that there are ways of finding that vastness in everyday life. Thank you
ReplyDeleteSorry to know you've received bad news, Georgia. Sending positive thoughts your way.
DeleteWonderfully expressed Denise - while the wide open spaces hold one in awe, I completely agree that those awe-inspired feelings can (and are) felt in many different places. Sometimes it is simply the sheer wonder at the moment one finds oneself in that gives way to an overwhelming-ness of it all, which in turn leaves one feeling refreshed and at peace.
ReplyDeleteYou are right,it is a matter of choice-I mean in how we see a landscape. I had been taking photos of my daughter in a very crowded beach, and when I returned home I realized that in all the photos there are almost no people but her, and one would have never guessed how populated this place really was. It's how we focus on a landscape or a place so that we can find that peaceful space to think in, or to breathe in- isn't it? Love your post. Thank you for dropping by:)
ReplyDeleteAgree - I feel so suffocated in closed spaces - busy cities are not my cup of tea at all. I crave the open spaces of the desert in Egypt (my home country). To me, there is nothing more awe-inspiring or humbling than standing amidst a sea of dunes.
ReplyDeletei agree with you that all of us need a special place for oneself. do you remember the title of documentary program?
ReplyDeletethe seed on my yesterday's post is cardiospermum(balloon plant) i adore during the summer time. have you ever seen it? some photo in my blog if you like.
It was a segment of the Ken Burns National Parks documentary, Coco.
DeleteI don't believe that 'finding yourself' is subject to external factors either. You either know who you are, or you don't, and a landscape cannot change that, beautiful and inspiring as it may be.
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't been that simple for me. I wouldn't say I don't know who I am, but I do feel I continue to discover new things about myself. I see knowing who you are as more of an evolution. I also believe my spending time in different landscapes has played a part in this gradual development. I carry the following Jack Kerouac quote in the outside pocket of my suitcase.
Delete[...] no matter how you travel, how “successful” your tour, or foreshortened, you always learn something and learn to change your thoughts."
I disagree with Hila---all those external factors play into your condition, your awareness, either as reflections of self, or triggers for unfoldment. To me, that craving for open spaces speaks to an inner desire for true expression of self, creativity, and
ReplyDeletespiritual liberation.
but, per the saying--wherever you go, there you are. it's all a matter of consciousness, right?
Craving vastness: that's exactly my own deepest need. Skies, possibilities, horizons. If I can't get physical vastness, I need to climb up something. The physical effort and the sensation of being high shakes everything back into perspective. Even walking the hill in the field opposite our house - only 10 mins out and back - can make me easier in my skin. And I too find different aspects of myself in different places and landscapes. I hope I always will.
ReplyDeleteI think I understand, Kate. I do feel much better looking down from a hill than up from a valley.
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