A matter of perspective
OK, so I didn't write a column with the headline "I'm outa here" like Susan Marshall at the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin. But I definitely echoed her sentiments last week as I headed out of state for a nice weeklong vacation.
In many ways, that was the first real vacation I've had in years. During my time as a student in South Carolina and a journalist in Idaho, every vacation week that came my way found me taking a plane back to Kansas to visit family.
This time, since I'm already in Kansas, I could take a plane somewhere else. And I chose Utah.
So I spent the last week "bumming around," as one fellow tourist I met put it, in the mountains of Wyoming and the deserts of southeast Utah.
I was looking for more than just beauty — I was looking for clarity of mind.
For me, probably the most valuable thing about vacations is the chance to take your mind off the problems of everyday life. And in doing that, you gain a better perspective on things.
I got a lesson in perspective last Monday, which I spent in Grand Teton National Park just north of Jackson, Wyo.
I won't waste my time with millions of adjectives and superlatives here. I'll just say this: YOU HAVE TO GO.
I'm definitely a mountain person, and the Tetons always take my breath away. More specifically, the Grand Teton — he's my favorite. And always amazes me how different that specific peak can look, depending on where you're standing.
Entering the park at Moran Junction, east of Jackson Lake, the Grand sort of blends in with its surrounding mountains, looks abnormally wide. Go a little further south to Jenny Lake, and it seems to split into two different peaks.
Near the south end of the park at Moose, you finally see the Grand in the familiar perspective of postcards and calendar shots: It looks like a huge tooth, crooking to the right.
Depending on where you are within the park, that specific mountain can look completely different.
It's all a matter of perspective. And it's a lesson I hope I can apply to life in general.
Take a specific problem or stressful situation. It's driving me crazy; it seems like the largest problem in the world.
But hold it, I tell myself — step back, take a fresh perspective. Look at it from a different angle.
Suddenly, the problem doesn't seem so large.
Proper perspective. It's something we could all use a dose of, and we don't need the Tetons to get it.
— JENNIFER WILSON
