Life is Sailing

            “Learning to see.”  This phrase concept was broached in the book Rembrandt Is in the Wind.  What does it mean to “learn to see”?  Our eyes help us navigate life safely, avoiding danger.  They help us find what we need.  They filter in beauty, pain, comfort.  Seeing is one of the five senses God gave us to engage with His world.  Isn’t it something we naturally do every waking moment… use our eyes to see? 

            Yet, “learning to see” requires an intentionality beyond what comes naturally to most of us.  We open our eyes to the minute, we look up toward the heavens and observe, we train our brains to recognize shapes and patterns.  It is a slowing down, a mapping of the environment, a taking in of the whole experience.  For me, learning to see involves more than just my sense of sight.  It is the sounds, smells, touch of an environment that allow me to truly see.  When I look back on pictures I have taken, it is not merely the visible image that my mind recalls, it is the entire sensory experience.  The more I choose to be in the moment, experiencing with all my senses, the more a photo brings to my mind and heart what I experienced. 

            Due to my husband’s job, we move locations a lot.  Learning to see in each new environment has become a goal of mine.  I learn the smells, the sounds of daily activities, the feel of the air and wind, the look of the people, plants, and animals.  It takes time, and often I am impatient, but it is worth the investment.  It changes me, learning to see these different cultures and places.  It rounds out my rigid framework of life.  Oh, to explore more of this incredible world and people, learning to see.