“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
Any distraction from ourselves will do, it seems. Anything that allows us to justify an external rather than an internal focus. Of course the “heights of mountains” and the “huge waves of the sea” are more compelling we tell ourselves, unwilling as we so often are to recognize the mountains and waves within us, peaking and forming in support of the infrastructure that is our life. Our whole life.
That life is lived both on the mountaintops and in the valleys; both on the crest of the waves and in the hollow space between them. I don’t need to tell you that, of course. You know too well what it feels like to experience those darker, flatter, hollowed out feelings. As do I.
I am simply reminding myself – perhaps, you also – to live more fully into both the light and the shadow of my existence. To develop an even greater curiosity about what is going on inside as I feel myself engaging with the world; high and low, good and bad, mountain top and valley floor.
When we choose to be cartographers of our inner landscape we develop the capacity to navigate our experience with the confidence of awareness; with the thoughtfulness of a seasoned traveler.
Coming alive to ourselves we might just spark a sense of wonder that says, “Look at all that I am!”
