The Unbarred View: Expand Your Perspective

Nobody has ever measured, even poets,
how much a heart can hold.
—Zelda Fitzgerald

I’ve been thinking about perspective, how we look out and what keeps us tethered to the past, or only what we refuse to see. Today, I offer you a poem, a bit of musing, inspiring words, and always, a song.

The Unbarred View

The coastal plain of my childhood stretches long and wide.

No hills to roll down, no mountains to climb.

I wondered about those places where brooks babbled and

rocky edges left barely room for a foothold.

But I learned to embrace the smooth unfettered landscape.

When the land lies flat, the grasses sway left to right,

nodding yes and no with nothing to hinder the view or wind.

The expanse comforts, reminding me how the heart swells

when you pull back the veil of fear and hesitation.

Oh, that all the world could live in such spaciousness.

Open, longing to stretch beyond the boundaries that

keep us closed, set apart.

Today, I will yield to the unbarred view.

A tranquil river flows through a rocky landscape, surrounded by lush green trees and distant mountains under a clear blue sky.

Colorado Perspective © Kathryn LeRoy

When you’re a child, the world seems vast and unimaginable. I grew up on the coastal plains of Texas. Wide open spaces allowed my thoughts to wander freely.

The dull gray aluminum of the chain-link fence around the yard fenced me in physically but couldn’t hide the world beyond a tentative boundary. As I kicked my feet to push off to soar into the sky on a single slat wide enough for only me, nothing stood in my way.

I could see — forever — across the open, treeless field on the other side of the metal that tried to contain me. I wondered. Was it that environment that shaped my view, or did my mind’s eye refuse to witness the limitations of objects and people

A song for seeing the world

Words for new perspectives

“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live! “
—Bob Marley

A serene sunset with vibrant orange hues behind silhouettes of pine trees and a white fence in a grassy field.

I always welcome your thoughts, so please leave a comment

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And always—