Summer reading: on bikes and bridges!
This week I did not really write a short story. More a bit of a reminder to myself how walking or just standing on a bridge has given me insight's in my life. Maybe you can relate to it as well!
Some time ago I asked friends to send me randomly words. I wrote each word on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. Each time I took out a note and just started writing without thinking too much. One morning I got the word ‘bridge’. Later my friend who had sent me this word texted me to meet up. She got on a train taking her bicycle along. We had lunch, biked a little together until our ways parted and she biked the 140 km journey home.
BRIDGES
It happens every day in any city of the world. It could very well be you I am writing about. You walk out of your house and close the front door. Your bicycle is ready to be ridden.The journey to your destination of today can begin. The bike lane you follow has the colour red and leads to a bridge. Not just any bridge. A long lane that feels like a category four hill climb of a cycling competition. Although you of course never participated in any competition before!
With a strong headwind you are now in full focus to reach the top. Slowly your leg muscles start to work harder. At the right time you put the gear in a lighter level. The pace remains good. Your bike will take you steadily uphill. You ignore the e-bike that overtakes you. You bike the steep road with your own strength. And when you think you're almost at the top, there's always that invisible bit of getting to the top. The last hurdle and when you reach the top, your feet automatically stop moving. The bike will roll down by itself. On the right you see a wide view of a winding river with houses along the banks. For a moment you feel 'on top of the world' and there is the blissful feeling of a rolling bicycle under your body. When the bicycle has rolled out, your legs automatically start moving again.
Next part of your journey is a long straight lane that is only broken off by a few roundabouts. Then you approach a balustrade on the right. A woman is standing next to it while throwing something out of a bag. “
What is she doing?!” you ask yourself.
No time to stop and ask. At that moment you realise: you actually cycle over a bridge! This bridge is so intertwined with the road that you don't notice it. The height of the bridge becomes clear as soon as you pass the woman. Pieces of bread fall metres deep into the water while seagulls try to catch it in the air.
Do you remember the last time you consciously went over a bridge?
A bridge. We use it daily. Walking, cycling, by car or train.Yet we are not always aware of it anymore. It is just part of the road network. A bridge becomes merely a connection between two areas. There is something that prevents you from going 'to the other side'. Usually this is water or maybe a valley. A bridge has been built to 'bridge' this gap. This way you don't have to make a detour and you can continue your way. In the daily use of a bridge there is no need to have in-depth thoughts about it. To find the answer why a bridge was built on this very spot and not 200 meters away. After all, it makes sense that the bridge is right there. Landscape architects and traffic experts have thought it through. Making use of existing, sometimes centuries-old roads. Over the years, old bridges have been demolished and new ones built on exactly the same spot.
Funnily enough, you don't ask questions about a bridge until you're somewhere else. Outside your familiar living environment. On a vacation or on a trip. Then a bridge suddenly stands out. In fact. People consciously choose to travel somewhere because of a famous bridge. The insignificant function of a bridge becomes a point of interest, an experience. Part of the travel program. Like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. There is literally time sceduled to stop at the bridge. Photos are taken, the background history is read. Then there comes the moment to walk or cycle across the bridge. There is no rush. You stop a few times along the way. You can see, touch and feel closely every part of the construction. Maybe you even secretly write your name somewhere. Or leave a love lock with your loved one. The bridge takes on a tangible meaning in your memory. From that moment on you can state:
“I have stood on that bridge too!”
When you are home again and look at the photos you took, it evokes your memory vividly. You can feel the light breeze on your face, the sounds, the view from the bridge is sharp on your retina. You know exactly how you felt at that moment. Maybe even what you thought at the time.
The bridge becomes a tangible memory
Maybe you made a promise or a wish while standing on that bridge.
Maybe you declared your eternal love to that one special person in your life.
Maybe you even proposed to get married.
Maybe the opposite happened and you realized your relationship is at its end.
Maybe you came to an insight that determined the next step in your life.
And when you reach the other side of the bridge, you know there's no turning back. That's what a bridge can do to you.
Which bridge evokes your memory right now?
Take a piece of paper and write it down. Who knows reliving those moments will bring you something again.
Wondering what inspirational thoughts and feelings came up when a group of sheep followed me on above bridge? Maybe one day I will write a story about it!
If you want to find out what can happen to you when you stand on this particular bridge? Send me a message and I will reveal the location to you!
And when you get there.. let me know!