One of the things I noticed upon moving to San Francisco earlier this year was how much harder it was to see the horizon than it is in Sydney (or the east coast of Australia more generally). I hadn’t really given it too much though, other than I missed seeing it and felt a great sense of calm and place on the rarer occasions when I was in a location, like Ocean Beach, where you could see it.
Last night, I overhead a podcasts Rose was listening to which really resonated with me. The two women being interviewed were explorers, one born in the foothills of the Himalaya’s in India and the other born in Europe in place ‘similar to the scenes of The Sound of Music – rolling green hills of luscious grass.’ Both women, among other things, have ventured to Antarctica, walked 100,000 miles or completed other enormous feats of exploration. Both commented that for them, they were more at home in their natural environments that echoed their initial place of birth.
It dawned on me that, whilst I might find being in the foothills of the Himalayas quite overwhelming, others might find staring out into the expanse of the ocean similarly daunting. But because I’ve grown up doing just that, I pursue the chance to ‘check in’ with that scene every so often. It’s good for me. I have a bias towards being calm in that environment. But it’s my bias alone – others may share it but that doesn’t mean others don’t find similar peace elsewhere.
The Squiggly Line 