CROSSING BRIDGES

Beach Access Bridge, Kiawah Island, SC

Eugene Delacroix has written that “A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.”  I took this photo as the sun was rising over the eastern shore and moonlight was transitioning to daylight.  I had risen early so that I could relish the experience and possibly capture an image to remember the moment as I approached a beach access bridge.

Bridges are generally constructed to provide passage over obstacles such as rivers, valleys or dense vegetation without disturbing or closing the way underneath.  Some of the earliest bridges were likely stepping stones or fallen trees that enabled our ancestors to easily cross over to the other side.  Most of us have an image of flooding river water rushing under a stalwart bridge that probably inspired Paul Simon to write Bridge over Troubled Water.

Fredrich Nietzsche observed that “Nobody can build the bridge for you to walk across the river of life, no one but you yourself alone.  There are, to be sure, countless paths and bridges and demi-gods which would carry you across this river; but only at the cost of yourself; you would pawn yourself and lose.  There is in the world only one way, on which nobody can go, except you; where does it lead?  Do not ask, go along with it.”  Bridges in dreams are symbols of stability, connection and transition.  “Love is the bridge between you and everything” according to Rumi.

As I stepped onto the beach access bridge that early summer morning, I was transitioning from the chaos of the world around me for just a short while and entering the peace and tranquility of the ocean waves timelessly washing ashore at my feet.  Nothing sooths the soul like a walk on the beach at sunrise as the world around me sailed away on the sea breezes.  And as the concerns of life began to drift out to sea, I reminded myself not to cross those bridges until I came to them.