Stand Up

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Iceland was a visit to the tundra. I was fascinated by how many plants occupy this seemingly barren habitat. One of the reasons the tundra appears barren, I think, is that its plants grow so close to the ground. For instance, here is a stand of willow trees.

Trees on the tundra experience very brief growing seasons, followed by very cold, windy winters. Their diminutive size may be both the result of and protection against their harsh environment. In any case, the tundra ground is covered with these tiny trees, short flowers, and thick, soft mosses, all growing on the lava rocks.

Rock Cress growing among lava rocks, Iceland

Tundra moss Nesjavellir, Iceland

Maybe because there are so few actual tall trees in the country, there is a saying in Iceland: “If you get lost in Iceland, just stand up.” It’s meant as a little joke, but the saying struck a chord with me because I think that its truth extends far beyond short trees and tundras.

When the world seems to be closing in on us, when we are overwhelmed with the many details of daily life; small details that seem to take on greater size and power the more we think about them, maybe we need only to stand up. Maybe we just have to cast a longer view, see the whole, larger picture of our reality in life size.

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a nagging worry? Isn’t it amazing how that one worry can lead to others, until, in the dark of a long night, they seem to grow and grow, until sleep is next to impossible and we are lost in a forest of anxiety? But somehow in the morning, when we literally stand up from our bed, doesn’t that one issue seem to shrink back to its actual size? When we are no longer lost, when we see the whole picture of our lives, doesn’t a path forward often appear to us? The path may be barely visible at first, but the more we stand up, the more we take in all the possibilities life offers, the path may become more and more distinct, and our destination more clear.

For my part, I want to try to remind myself to stand up. I want to give myself a chance to see the path before I fall down among the trees. This, I believe, is a skill to be practiced and learned, especially for those of us who may be more inclined to panic rather than to look forward, above the rocks, the shrubs and tangles, to the welcoming sea ahead. But remembering that saying may help. “When you get lost, just stand up.”