Distance lends enchantment
Green up close, blue far away: distance changes how things look.
The Blue Ridge Mountains, western Virginia, July 2005
‘Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountain in its azure hue.
— Thomas Campbell
Time and memory don’t always improve the way things seem to us, but often they do. As with the old saying about the weather, if you are unhappy today, wait a while. Although it may be hard to imagine, there will almost certainly come a time, probably fairly soon, when things appear at least a little bit better than they do right now. And it’s even more likely that someday you will look back on these years of your life and feel better about them — either happy they are in the past, or happy for the good times they held, which you can see with more clarity from a distance.
One year ago today
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: clarity, experience, memory, perspective, reflection, remembrance, reminiscing, time, understanding
Defeat Despair 
On this wintery day I’m going to try something new. I’m going to dig into my craft box, find some paints and good paper, and then try to paint the scene in your photograph. I’ve been watching landscape painting lessons on YouTube but wasn’t sure how to use color to show distant mountains. Your camera captured the colors and details really well. I’m sure not an artist but it will be fun to give it a try today!
Thanks too for your words of encouragement, “there will almost certainly come a time, probably fairly soon, when things appear at least a little bit better than they do right now.” Much appreciated during these long weeks/months of having to deal with the pandemic and isolation.
Hi Judy, I’m so late getting to these comments that by now your work of art may be finished! How did it go? I do think the trees in snowy weather make a lovely theme for watercolor painting. Something about the grays and whites and browns seems to lend itself to watercolor, which is my favorite medium (although I’m no artist and would not begin to know how to paint with anything). If I ever studied painting through a local class, watercolor would be my choice.
I hope things are starting to appear brighter for you and Stew. Certainly I’ve felt, overall, much happier this year than I have for many years. I hope that trend continues. I’m gradually breaking out of isolation with travel and getting together with friends, though most of my social contact is still via some form of digital communication. My online Oxford poetry class (now in its second semester, or in Oxford lingo, Hilary Term) has been a real asset in giving me structure, lively communication and a fun but challenging set of assignments. Hope you find that art is providing you with similar sustenance.