Up Close and Far Away

I am thoroughly enjoying the view from my mountaintop condo these days. I can’t seem to get enough of just standing at the edge of my balcony and staring off into the far mountains. The view is breath-taking and inspiring.

It reminds me of a view I had a week ago of the Window in the Chisos Mountain as I was hiking the trail to get there. I was coming down a decent descent, watching where I was putting my feet, because I am not known for my grace.  I happened to look up and out and there it was: my destination, the Window.  It too was breath-taking. I stopped for a moment to just look around and soak in the bigger picture. Way in the distance I could see three objects rising out of the landscape, but it was too far. I couldn’t really tell what I was looking at; perhaps some yucca’s in bloom?

I continued to hike down the trail and I kept looking in that direction trying to figure out what I was looking at, wondering if this trail would take me by it or not. Oops. Watch your step, idiot! Yeah, I guess I should pay attention to where I’m at on the trail. It’s a good thing I have rubber ankles and good recovery of balance…

One of the musings of the hike that day centered on the notion of big-picture views versus paying attention to the current surroundings. You have to admit the big picture views tend to be breath-taking and inspiring. There are things way out there that catch your interest and make you wonder. And it is good too to have some sense of where you are headed. But what I re-discovered on that trail is that while looking at the views way off in the distance is wonder-filled, you miss the beauty right under your nose. Not to mention, you run the risk of falling flat on your face.

After stumbling a bit over a rock in the path of my feet, I decided to forget the far off view and pay attention to my present surroundings. And guess what? There were all kinds of amazing and breath-taking things right under my nose. There were these delicate little yellow butterflies flitting around. They never seemed to land any one place long enough for a picture. They flitted and hopped from flower to flower and plant to plant. Oh, yes, there were all kinds of flowers as well, different from the desert: smaller, wild flowers.

One of the real treats walking along this trail and paying attention to the things around me was the startling discovery of a prickly pear with heart shaped leaves. Do they even call them leaves?  I’m not sure, but here was this large sprawling cactus with not one, but several heart shaped leaves. Sometimes you’ll see something other than a round shape on a prickly pear because of some sort of injury to the plant – like an animal took a bite out of it. But these leaves had grown naturally in the shape of a heart, no injury. It was really captivating and wonderful and unique. I would have missed it if I had kept looking at those object way off in the distance.

 It was fun just looking closely at the things around me. There was this simple delight in just observing the shape of leaves, the colors of flowers or birds, especially the scrub jay that flew straight at me. There was much right under my nose to take may breath away. I found myself stopping often just to enjoy something unique and beautiful in its own nature. This is living in the moment, right? This is being present to what is. It’s stopping to smell the roses. It’s also a very smart way to stay cool and hydrated on a hot, dry day in desert mountains.

But there is a problem with this stopping to smell the roses. It takes me far longer than most to reach my destination. Of course, since I’m traveling alone, I don’t really have to worry about that. Time is whatever I want it to be. But I notice when I really just let myself be present in the moment, I tend to lose track of the journey. I lose sight of the bigger picture.  I think there is something good about this but I also get a sense after awhile that I really need to keep moving. I need to look up and remember the bigger picture and keep the destination in sight. The destination after all will have things to delight my soul as well. That’s my hope anyway.

So the real trick in this journey of life is juggling the up close with the far away. We really do need to have some distant destination in sight that hopefully keeps us moving forward. There is this bigger picture that embraces our lives and our work, our love and our play. But it is important that even as we know we’re heading in some particular direction, we pay attention to the things around us. Live toward the future, but take time to be in the present moment. Stand in awe of the breath-taking vista that is your destination, but don’t dare to miss the delightful things along the way. Indeed stop. Smell the roses. Stop, and breathe deep the life that is all around you. Stop. Look up; look out, and then journey forward again.

P.S.  Just so you know, I am not a naive or in-experienced traveler. Sometimes the journey is hard. Even on a hiking trail, it can get treacherous. I’ve landed on my bum a couple of times. I’ve had to stop and rehydrate because the hot sun cooked me. It’s not all roses out there, or cactus for this setting. Or maybe it is…both roses and cacti have thorns.  Guess what I’m trying to say is that it is just as important to juggle close up and far away when the journey is hard. Maybe in some ways, it is even more important when the trail is hard.  Journey well, my friends.