Too Close to See Too Far to Read

What is the purpose of this blog-post? This article?

Well mostly it is an attempt at stacking words a-top one another. In a manner that resembles a clear concise idea - a shape that might be recognisable to the reader. Think Jenga but with vowels, consonants and speech marks. In a way visualise a game of Tetris. Words fall from above and somehow through the tinkling of my fingers end up on the screen infront of you.

Now that that is out of the way lets get into the juicy meat of the article. The inspiration for my post. Mostly it comes from the many hours spent in my head on the trail. Walking, wondering and reflecting. 

"Too Close to See Too far to Read" 

Refers to the idea that we are often too close to our success, our failures and more accurately our own lives - to appreciate the significant of each of these moments. Suspended in the oxygen rich atmosphere of earth we as human creatures tend to focus on what is infront of us. What is within reach. The remote, the bag of spinach on the shelf and or the rear end of the driver who clearly can not drive.

Partly a byproduct of our biological make up - partly a product of our society we tend to confuse the forest for the tree's. We get stuck up in the emotional weight of the moment. We define ourselves by the weight on the scale we see between our toes. A number. A comment made by a stranger - by a friend. The rejection felt by an ex-lover. The love lost by a passing parent. The wagging tail of a dog whose belly we rub. The kudos we receive on a run we posted on strava.

Click. Bang. Snap. 

The instantaneous emotional response to stimuli that is infront of us. Normal. Human to do. Animal like if you will. 

The question begs how does one get distance from said stimuli? How does one connect to the larger plan? How does one start to notice the forest as well as the trees? 

Well life is always teaching. Always sharing. In any moment there are thousands of things to notice. The smell of tar on the road. The sensation of your clothes on your body. The breath under your nose. The sound of birds chirping. Each thing offers you the chance to respond. To define yourself. But as a result of them not being "life changing" we tend to ignore them. Or even if we do notice the stride of the old man walking on the street opposite us, we let it go. Not holding on to it. Not letting it define our experience. 

Perhaps that's got to be the mindset for all that comes up. For each tree within the forest. Even the ones that hurt, that feel amazing or that might make us feel. We see. We feel. We let it pass over us. 

And then try to let it go.