Sunrises And Rivers

Time to explore the horizon

This morning I was inspired by Christine Sine’s “Meditation Monday” post on “Walking Towards the Horizon.” She was writing about lakes and rivers and recognizing both the beauty of them and the danger that they can pose. But, one quote that she pulled from Barry Lopez made me stop and remember a sweet moment with my daughter last summer when I felt like I had the time and energy to appreciate creation and marvel at the brilliant colors that arise when watching the sun rise.

Here’s the Lopez quote she pulled:

A river, he explained, cannot be known, not the way a rocket engine can. Because although an engine is complicated, a river is complex, “an expression of biological life, in dynamic relation to everything around it.” Those who really understand landscape—field biologists, hunting and gathering peoples, artists—prefer specificity: how the light moves on the water on a given day. “This view,” Lopez wrote, “suggests a horizon rather than a boundary for knowing, towards which we are always walking.”

We rarely think of the horizon as more than a boundary. We see it as far off, something we can’t ever imagine getting to the edge of because it’s miles and miles away. Instead, we look at it from a distance, admire it, and capture it in images that we post and maybe even paint. This quote reminded me that I have the ability and opportunity to explore the edges of the horizons, even though I may never find the “end.”

This summer we explored the Grand Tetons and we took pictures of the horizon on the other side of Jenny Lake and then we walked up to “Inspiration Point,” and saw the side of the lake that we had just been at, admiring the mountains. It wasn’t an easy walk and I must admit that I was a bit grumpy about it at the beginning, but when I started to stop and notice the plants, the views, and the excitement in my adult children who found a baby black bear nestled way up in a tree by the lake, I relaxed and enjoyed the journey.

I think that we all need to see creativity in that kind of way. Not as a boundary or a project to be completed, but as a horizon to be explored. When we allow our hearts and minds to open up to something creative, we often discover parts of our souls we may not have noticed before.

I know we are nearly halfway through the “American Summer,” but it isn’t too late to take time to explore the horizon. There is so much to unearth and it will reveal to you new ways of seeing the world. This is the key to creativity, new ways of seeing the world.

Let the creativity flow from within as you discover the world out there and beyond.