Perspective

I took a break this weekend. From everything. No, I wasn't burnt out from life, or anything like that. My son was invited to go backpacking with the local scout troop, and I cleared my schedule to go with them. Actually, I begged to go with them. You see, they were going to a place I remembered as a teenager. This place was so magical to me that I used it to create scenes in the first book I wrote.

I was returning to one of the origins of my writing.

Deep in the mountains at 10,000 ft. (you can see my tent in the background), I found this fantastic stone. The top was flat, and it allowed me a perfect place to sit and dangle my legs over the edge, or lay flat and relax. I spent an hour on this stone, staring at the view and enjoying the peace it offered. I started thinking about perspective.

Here's another view of my rock (it's at the top right corner), taken from the campsite where everyone else decided to pitch their tents. They thought I was crazy for choosing a spot so much higher (we had already hiked quite a distance to get to this place). When they saw me sitting on the rock, they questioned me: "What are you doing? Why did you go all the way up there? If bears come close to camp, you'll be the first victim!"

They were right. So was I. Our perspectives were different. I didn't argue with them or try to defend my reasoning. Climbing up to our tent over and over again was a pain. I'm still feeling that pain. I don't regret it. Here's why:

This was my view of the sunrise this morning. You can see the top of my flat rock in the lower left.

I don't claim anything except that I love this adventure called life. True to my expectations, the trip this weekend reminded me that there are places in the world that are magical. To each of us, those places are defined by our own perspectives. All of our experiences and memories collect inside and make us who we are. This was another great experience for me.

Find those places that inspire you. Then capture that and share your vision with the world.