Perspective-Taking

Phot Credit: Unsplash

This summer I did something I’ve never done before. On vacation in the Florida Keys, my husband and I took a seaplane from Key West, about 70 miles west to the Dry Tortugas, seven small islands totaling approximately 100 square miles. The tiny island we visited is about 16-20 acres, containing only one structure: an unfinished Fort Jefferson, where eight full-time National Park Service staff live and work. That’s it! There is no cell service, no WIFI, no food and beverage sales—just pure, breath-taking, natural beauty. During our two-hour stay, there were only about 22 other people on the island.

Photo Credit: Key West Seaplane Adventures

The idea is to take the 35-minute seaplane flight and spend a couple of hours self-touring the island and the fort, sunning and snorkeling along the sandy coastline, then return by seaplane to Key West. Alternatively, tourists and overnight campers can get to the island by ferry, over two hours each way. I’m not much of a snorkeler—meaning, I don’t snorkel, my husband does—but I thoroughly enjoy every snorkeling excursion we’ve ever taken together. This one was no exception.

Photo Credit: Our Awesome Pilot

We took off by land in Key West and landed by sea at the Dry Tortugas. Flying only a few thousand feet over the surface of the ocean on our way, the seaplane offered us once in a lifetime, spectacular views of the translucent, turquoise waters below. We pointed out countless sea turtles to each other and the other seven passengers, a few pods of dolphins, and even one lone shark, plus plenty of fish and a couple of shipwrecks. I was beyond excited to be invited to ride in the co-pilot seat on the way back to Key West, blessing me with an unobstructed view of the bright white clouds, deep blue sky, and aqua blue and green sea in front of our propeller. (I told my fellow passengers they wouldn’t have boarded had they ever seen me drive!)

Photo Credit: Os Flores

Gliding through the air above the water, hovering over the small yet vast portion of Earth, gifted me a fresh perspective—one that, months later, is never far from my mind. The roaring propellers drowned out every other voice but the one in my own mind. For the first time in a while it seemed, I could hear myself think. But even I was quiet. I inhaled the thick saltiness over and over, tasting it on the back of my tongue. The humidity rushed against my skin through small vents in the aircraft’s windows as we plodded through the sky.

We were so low, I don’t know if one could even call the space in which we flew sky. The elements of nature were unlike any I’d ever seen. Only a few thousand feet above the surface, I absorbed the divine wonders from a bird’s eye view, close enough to distinguish waves in the sand under the water where it was often only 3-5 feet deep, but distant enough to behold miles of ocean and heavens.

Photo Credit: Key West Seaplane Adventures

I realized on those two brief flights how special it was for me to be in that place at those moments, completely present in the openness of such a marvelous piece of our planet. None of my worries or cares, my issues and stresses, were with me. Not one. I suppose I left them on the tarmac in Key West like lost baggage, waiting for me to return and pick them back up again. But in the rushing humidity of that loud, little aircraft, I had no pressing problems.

Perspective-taking. My heart was in pieces when we left for vacation—just some hard stuff of life like anyone else has, but man, I was carrying a heavy weight. That little seaplane last July did more than transport me from one island to another. It took me to a place of faith.

My problems, my family, my world are “everything” to me, as they say. They are huge in my eyes—but just a few thousand feet above the ocean, I realized I am small, my problems are small, even my family is small. My “everything” is only a little bitty wisp in a fleeting moment of space and time.

Photo Credit: Andria Flores

It was more than a change of scenery that impacted me in the Florida Keys. It was a literal change of altitude that created space for me to see things from another perspective—one that stirred my faith.

I no longer have the privilege of jumping on a seaplane to create altitude and distance from whatever weighs me down. Rather, I rely on my faith for that. Perspective-taking is the vehicle that gets me there. It feels like salty, rushing air that sticks to my skin. It sounds like a giant roar in my ears, so loud I don’t even try to speak. It smells both balmy and fresh, like sun and sea. Most importantly, perspective-taking inspires me to let go and trust “everything” to the Pilot.

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