Three or Four Hills and a Cloud

In my room the world is beyond my understanding;

But when I walk I see that it consists of three or four hills and a cloud.

~Wallace Stevens

The most daunting part of the journey is, I think, the part I make up in my head when I am alone, when I withdraw, when I cut off from support, when I look at the immensity of the task. I sit in my room, and it is all beyond my understanding.

But if I venture out, if I take one step and then the next, if I do the first thing, and then do the second thing, and let the obvious third thing arise when it’s ready, then I see that it is all very simple really: three or four hills and a cloud.

(I found this poem quoted in Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, by Frederick S. Perls, a book full of Perls’ wit and insights into human growth and maturation. More posts inspired by Perls to come.) 

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