...this one was too good to pass up. I need the tranquility that seems to go along with this Friday Five.
Taking in the view Friday Five
1. How important is the "big picture" to you, do you need a glimpse of the possibilities or are you a details person?
I am, oddly, both a big picture and a details person. I am very anal-retentive about the details; some would accuse me of being a perfectionist. But I find if I don't have the big picture, I don't see the reason for all the effort, and I give up. It's like my students trying to write an essay without a thesis; they can't see where they're going, so they don't know what to write or even why they're trying. The big picture is crucial.
2. If the big picture is important to you how do you hold onto it in the nitty gritty details of life?
How do I hold onto the big picture? I'm not sure it's a conscious effort for me. Once I've grasped the big picture, I can hold it in mind and return to it mentally when I need a refresher about why I'm doing what I'm doing. I use the analogy of a body of water. When I'm drowning in the details, I find I need a helicopter trip over the water so I can see where I'm heading. Once I have mental map again, I can get back into the water (details) up to my ears again.
3. Name a book, poem, psalm, piece of music that transports to to another dimension (one....what am I thinking....)
Book: Any poetry collection by Mary Oliver -- she takes me to the field, to my childhood in the mountains, to the animal mind; Multiple novels by Madeleine L'Engle -- she takes me back to my adolescent mind again, and to the world of broad sophistication that I still find myself craving as an adult.
Piece of music: John Rutter's Requiem -- this takes me to places I cannot describe other than to say it's somewhere deep in my soul, in the dark, but with a deep light behind it. It takes me to a dark night in high school, with a friend, mourning a long-dead loved one. It takes me to dark peace and hope.
4.Thinking of physical views, is there somewhere that inspires you, somewhere that you breathe more easily?
No place compares to Yosemite for me. Too much history and emotion are bound to that holy place for me to consider any alternatives. The place breathes, and therefore so do I.
(Runners up: The Grand Canyon takes my breath from me every time; Jerusalem makes me breathe differently; I'm cultivating Mendocino as a breathing zone, too.)
5. A picture opportunity... post one if you can (or a link to one!)
I can never post just one.
