Meaning Through Connecting, Essay Example

When I reflect on what place has the most meaning for me, and where I find the deepest contentment, I realize that the place is defined by what it offers. This in turn goes to what I can bring to it, and the scene in question is best described as the stables where I care for horses. “Stable” is too limiting, however, because this scene represents an entire way of life I love. The stable is the center, but being there translates to all the elements of the country that gratify me on the most profound level.  Just approaching the stables, coming through the woods and fields, and inhaling the atmosphere so unlike that of the city, creates a kind of excitement in me. Then, the acts of feeding and caring for the horses give me an organic sense of connecting to life at its most basic and beautiful state, because these animals are my idea of natural perfection. The work itself is fulfilling; I am giving to these wonderful creatures that give themselves completely to us, and it feels like an honor.  Then, all the sensations, sights, sounds, and smells of the stable bring me a feeling of utter security and peace, from the soft whinnying of a horse to the aroma of hay in the air.  I brush a horse and see muted sunlight play over its back, and I can imagine no stronger sense of absolute contentment.

This experience expands in other ways, and each adds to my deep love for the scene as a whole.  Caring for horses, riding, and showing them is a highly communal process, and those of us committed to it share a unique bond.  We enjoy and appreciate the same things, so the feelings of genuine happiness we have in this environment become greater because they are shared so openly and fully.  My friends there have the same, deep respect for the scene and the animals that I have, and we enter into the work involved with the same enthusiasm we bring to relaxing after a competition.  We always make time to go on long walks with the horses in the country sun, and there is no more humanizing experience.  The country brings us back to what matters, and there is none of the rush of ordinary life, so we can discover one another completely.  Then, and as happens in the evening campfires after the day’s work with horses is done, there is joking, teasing, and all the wonderful interaction when real friends gather in a natural setting.  We sing, we toast smores over the fire, and we are able to be ourselves completely.  It is in fact a way of life, far more than it is a setting, and it is one that brings me to the most true idea of myself and where I belong.

The scene changes when I actually ride, yet all the qualities I love are there as well.  Maybe only another rider can understand the intense and beautiful relationship in place when you take the reins, and horse and rider engage in complete trust.  It is a silent and powerful union, and I cherish every moment of it.  My nature is adventurous; I like to test boundaries, sometimes race, and venture into new scenes and experiences. My horse is with me on this, just as I rely on my responsibility to it, and its own senses, to guide me and keep me from going too far.  This being the reality of riding, I enjoy a perfect freedom while still honoring my connection to the land and my horse.  Riding “changes” everything; each moment, because of the speed and movement, creates a vista in the country that cannot be seen ever again.  This is the gift of riding. The wind moves through my hair, all the fragrances of the earth are breathed in, I feel the strength of my horse beneath me, and I honestly feel like I want to do nothing beyond this.  Other activities and scenes bring me satisfaction, but nothing is this fulfilling, or gives me so deep a feeling of peace. When I describe the stables, then, I am in fact speaking of the entire environment I love best, and how all the elements within it reflect its core being. It is there, in and around the stables, that I connect to the horses, to the work, to my friends, and to the wonderful country. It is in these connections that contentment in its purest form comes to me, because I seem to find my true self in them.