Last night I went down to walk Duna near the river Congost. It is one of my favourite areas in Granollers. There is a long stretch without buildings and you pass some hortas (vegetable patches), the geese guarded by Lolita the gentle border collie, and the field of wheat which has now been harvested. It’s like a little bit of countryside right in the middle of Granollers
Swallows swooping, people walking their dogs, the sound of the swifts high above, and occasionally a pair of ducks flying over on their circular routes around the river.
In the distance the hills.
I have some friends coming here to visit soon and I was wondering what they will think when I take them there. Will they see what I see? Or will their eyes rest more on the ugly flats, the litter and dog shit, the large car park to the left and the industrial zone of Cavovelles across the river?
I can switch views and see all this too – it’s like having a button with two options – beautiful or ugly, nice or nasty, agreeable or disagreeable.
Sometimes it depends on my mood which one I see.
But generally I go there and feel good. I accept that I live in a town and not in the middle of nature as I used to in Cornwall. It just makes me happy that there are these wild places here.
But it struck me how much harder it is to do the same with human beings. Faced with someone who irritates me or who is nasty or disagreeable I find it much harder to just see the good parts. The option button gets stuck on negative mode far too often. I wonder why that is and what it would take to make the change. Practice?
That is SUCH a good point. Though I have learned, while teaching, that often the most challenging students, kids and adults, after we have whacked our heads together long enough, I find some affection for them. Sometimes just enough to get us through the course, sometimes more. Sometimes NONE too, but that does not happen often at all.
The switch can be unstuck, but boy, sometimes it takes some work.
Hi Kate,
some people are just harmful to us, so it is quite rational to feel negatively toward them.
As for your visitors – what’s not to like about Spain? And dog shit is a very natural, wild-lifey kind of thing!
Pearl x
Doog insight.
Ah, the age old question – to focus on the dog shit or the flowers. Cultivating the practice of focus, that is what I think I have been doing for a few decades. Then I find all I see and smell is the dog shit and realize I need to practice more. If you find the place has magic, I then I am sure your friends will see and feel the magic too. I find myself in a bit of a negative rut right now, even though it is summer and some of my obligations have lessened. I am blaming hormones, to an extent, and trying to find ways to tweak my habits so that I get the most out of the next two months.
Dear BC You are not alone! So many people have been struggling this solstice time. I wonder if it is a time for many things to com to the surface. Uncomfortable and yet potentially healing. Seeing the roses amongst the shit is a lifelong practice and I try to be patient with myself. love K x