When I was in school, I was taught that Columbus discovered America. You may remember the rhyme: "In 14 hundred and 92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...". Apparently that "fact" is now disputed, but not to the extent that the second Monday in October has been rescinded as a federal holiday! So I think about Columbus and his journey today.
Whether he was first or not, he was a navigator and explorer. The conditions under which he travelled are incomprehensible by modern times. And to think that he set out with such false and incomplete information; he had estimated that the distance from Europe to Asia was only one-fourth of what it actually was. It reminds me of Lewis and Clark who set out for the Pacific Ocean thinking that their trip would be entirely by water -- they did not know that the Rocky Mountains existed. Yet both persevered and completed their journey despite the overwhelming odds.
I was in Seville, Spain several years ago and saw the spot where Christopher Columbus docked after returning from his trip to points West. It was a simple spot devoid of any fanfare. Sites with far, far less historical significance in America are commercialized and surrounded with souvenirs and visitor centers, but the Columbus site in Seville has nothing more than a simple plaque. I couldn't find as much as a postcard about it.
Your cubicle or studio or simple desk at home may be as unpretentious as Columbus' port and your journey as unknown. But hopefully you are also able to be a navigator and explorer -- to travel uncharted territory in your work and find new understandings that are not yet discovered. Whether Columbus was first or not, today I hope that you celebrate and renew your commitment to persistence -- to the perseverance it takes to keep trudging forward when the path ahead is far harder and longer than anticipated and the rewards so uncertain.
-- beth triplett
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You know what fascinates me about this type of thing (early explorers) is: how did they know they were there? How did Lewis & Clark know they were at the Pacific Ocean rather than jumping in and keeping going? What if Columbus had somehow found some small island in the middle of the Atlantic and thought he had made it & stopped there? I have the benefit of a GPS and Google Maps and an iPhone; when I think I am where I am going, I pull up that map, confirm it, and move on. But, when you’re standing on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, unable to see where the ocean ends, do you assume that you’ve made it to where you were going or do you keep going in case you hadn’t?
ReplyDeleteHow did they even know that there was something else out there besides themselves? How did Columbus know that Europe wasn’t the only continent? They didn’t have satellite photos to look at the know that; yet he knew, he was curious, he explored, he discovered.
Contributed by bg