Caroline Adcock sees things afresh

By Street Wisdom
09.10.22

Caroline Adcock took part in this year’s World Wide Wander and shares the results of her Quest.

In the midst of a dripping wet country lane I was drawn towards the verge where three large tyres had been thrown down, each one equidistant from the other and placed in a row.  In the centre of each  tyre was a mass of bright green tangled foliage, largely grass, dandelions and weeds.

These plants were no different to the foliage surrounding the tyres, but I had the feeling I was staring down at individual beings. The plants  inside the tyres were just the same species as the foliage on the verge. It’s true that within the tyres the proportions of each species varied, and one tyre may have included a different  flower or weed.  However, the truly amazing thing was that the reality on the outside of the tyres, and beyond the verge, although  made up of similar things, was SO MUCH BIGGER, richer, fuller, more magnificent. And then, looking beyond the verge, I could see many levels and scales of reality – the hills, the sky the horizon…

Are we not like the tyres? Our reality is within us, made of all the things from the outside world and yet so very limited. When are we ever really aware of the enormous scale and complexity of the much greater reality outside of ourselves?  Could this be the many layered universe? It was a pretty mind-blowing experience to be able to peep outside of the rim of my metaphorical tyre and appreciate the awe and wonder of this landscape.

And then came the answer to the question I had posed; this was in response to thoughts about a recent mediation case I had been working on and why the two parties had such different versions of “the truth”. I began to wonder about what reality was like inside each one of those tyres.  Although the stuff inside appeared rather similar, when our  awareness operates at the micro or personal level, even the type of grass and the presence of a single weed can seem so much more important, so much more significant.  It’s because we focus on the differences to make ourselves seem special,  but looking down from a greater height it’s evident we are all made of much the same stuff. If that weren’t the case we would never be able to communicate with each other, and most of the time we can generally understand each other, even if we don’t always agree.   Those whose tyres have been cast down in similar environments have more of the same inside,  but those  but whose tyres have been thrown down on a different terrain may find it harder to gain an understanding of those at a distance.

The human race is like a mass of tyres, each one thrown over patches of the universe, and each one trying to get a sense of each other’s reality and the reality outside, which is generally hidden from all of us.  Now I understood why two people can have such a different experience of the same event.

And then I became aware of a small brick hut, overgrown with ivy and overshadowed by a small tree.  A low hum was coming from inside the building  but a heavy iron door, safely sealed by a large rusty padlock, kept it tightly shut.  What could be inside?  It seemed like a whirring  machine and I had a sense that it was generating reality. All those codes, patterns and numbers which create form.  Easily overlooked and never seen by humans but an essential part of creation.

Who would have thought a wet Friday morning could have been THAT amazing!

 

Caroline Adcock is currently a volunteer mediator, listening Samaritan, on the steering committee of Compassion Practices and author of the ME-FIT books “Mental Fitness Training” and  “Dealing with Conflict”.

Thanks to rawpixel.com for the gorgeous picture of the tyre!

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