Thought of the Day 07.22.08

I know they’re not common in Arizona, but I come from the Midwest, the land of corn. And every fall, you can try your hand at solving the local corn maze, which is a funny play on words, sort of. What’s fascinating about them is just how disorienting they can be. You can become lost in a very short period of time if you’re not really paying close attention.

In fact, from your eye level, all you can see is unending, unchanging walls of exit-obscuring corn stalk. But when you finally near the end, they often feature a little bridge or viewing station from which you can look down on the entire maze. Not only does this put you in a position to see the way through clearly enough to give directions to others (if you were so inclined), but it also lets you see for the first time what the pattern of the maze is: a witch, a polar bear, or perhaps a giant pumpkin.

What is discouragingly meaningless while you’re in it becomes fascinatingly beautiful when you can finally see it from the right perspective. That seems like it might be a useful metaphor for something.