Plate G8.no12: The Great Wall of China: Huangyaguan*

There was such a continual sense of being centered whilst trekking the Great Wall of China, that I like this picture as it attempts to bring something else into play.
The wall acted as a constant, and for that I was grateful. At the time I needed centering: I was drowning in grief. But that grief consumed me in a light which obliterated even the most robust reality. Despite the scale of the wall (which is staggering – all 5000 miles of it…), the scale of what was happening to me, rendered the Great Wall minuscule.
I’m grateful for this picture, therefore, for two reasons: it captured the reality of me in that place – and also because it helps me recognise: I am drowning no longer…

*Further comment can be found in:
E Books – A Walkers Diary (Vol 3)/Trek Reflections – China 2016