By Dilynn Wise
I forget that I live in a beautiful place. Living in a city, I get caught up in the next thing that I have to do, or the funniest new video that I just have to share with my Mom. I get really lazy, and drive down the block instead of walking or riding my bike. I will have no problem staying in my house all day, and making excuses to put off going out for as long as I can. I just drive. My only mission is to make it to my destination in the shortest amount of time possible. The aggravation of all the heavy traffic, and how it has gotten so much worse lately, makes me want to scream most days.
I forget that those mountains are there. I mean, yes I see them every day and I use them as my compass. But I don’t allow myself to really see them as they are, what they are in all their glory. When you are surrounded by something all the time you become blind to it and forget. The name for this is called perceptual blindness. I guess everybody does this at some point with something in their lives. Because you are used to it, and don’t realize that this thing is wonderous.
But there are times that I look up and am blown away. The view that is in front of me steals my breath. All I can say is "WOW". Which is profound all by itself. But sometimes that is all I can come up with to say. It is then that I feel ashamed that I have forgotten the fact that I live in such a beautiful place. These mountains that surround me are proud and majestic, I hope they are not offended by my inattention. A song that comes to mind while writing this has a line "… Deep in the shadow of the mighty mountain…" Mountains are these mighty things above us always, we just have to remember to look up.
Please look up. Look around and see the beauty that is all around and remember you live in a beautiful place.