reverb10:[photo]

Photo Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

This photograph was taken mid-September on top of Mount Scott, in the Wichita Mountains. It was a quiet, early fall day, and time allowed for my mom, a dear friend, and I to venture there for the afternoon. We ate a Meer’s burger, drove through the wildlife refuge, and did a bit of romping around. Even as I sit here now, I can recall the feeling of lightness that I felt that day. Much life transition had accompanied that particular weekend, and our hearts were given leave, to breathe the air and feel joy again. Climbing the little mountain gives just enough perspective to evoke a deep awe and humility.

This season, I am re-learning the beauty of solitude and the goodness of self through time alone. It is from the high places that I can look out and see all the possibility of life ahead. There is a freedom from all that hinders, the illusion of flight, and the hope of something great in the plains below. There is a deep desire in me to wander, and be lost in discovery. This photo speaks to possibility, to potential, to a dream.

I think it also sheds light on who I am in my best moments: quieted by love, and by things greater than myself. A dreamer, and a sojourner. Free.

I am reminded of this exhortation from Anne Lamot, speaking in her candid tone,

But you are not your bank account, or your ambition. You’re not the cold clay lump you leave behind when you die. You’re not your collection of walking personality disorders. You are spirit. You are love. And even though it is hard to believe sometimes, you are free. You are here to love, and be loved, freely. If you find out next week that you are terminally ill — and we are terminally ill on this bus — what will matter are memories of beauty, that people loved you, and that you loved them.

 

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