Horizons

Thomas Park, South Boston

Part of my practice is walking daily. Yesterday I climbed Dorchester Heights, now part of South Boston, where Washington shot cannon at the British fleet. This forced them to evacuate Boston on March 17, 1776. It is a San Francisco-style hill. Streets lined with precariously stacked late-19th-century townhouses in neat rows.

 

As I reached the summit, capped with Thomas Park, a 360-degree view revealed itself. Horizons in all directions. Ocean, cityscape, distant hills. Horizons invite.

 

Walking is a meditative experience for me. Yesterday reminded me that life always offers a new horizon to be chosen. Sometimes, I must turn fully around and change my direction to find the horizon which will lead me to new discovery. Linear thinking leaves me with just one horizon, like a train track with no switches. This imprisons my mind.

 

I would like my mind to be like the crest of a tall hill. I would like it to always offer horizons on all sides. This is openness. This is flexibility, This is skeptical inquiry. This is creativity.