Stairways

I was waiting for a coffee this morning and was taking in my surroundings when i saw this beautiful hidden staircase. A bit of a spiral with wooden steps along a rocky wall with flowers and shadows and sun - all of this forming a very pretty picture. 

I love stairways. They are so photogenic. I will easily fill my phone just with pictures of stairs. And doors, but that is another story. Back to Stairs....

Some even have names - in Coimbra you can climb stairs from the train station up to the university and it is quite aptly called, The Back breaking staircase. Straight up on a very high hill! Another famous one is the more romantic Spanish steps in Rome - all 138 of them - taking you either up to the beautiful church or down to the Piazza and cool fountain.

I saw some very impressive steps on the Ilha de Moçambique in the old fort and also in the historic town going up to the most beautiful, albeit impractical, hospital i have ever seen. White smooth stones that just begged to be photographed. Beautiful. But, like most things in life, there are exceptions of course.

Our little squeezed in house in Portugal had such an exception - a steep marble staircase where my youngest, then 3, fell down and broke his nose and had to go to the ER to have stitches! And that on our second day in a foreign country. I had to take the dictionary with me😳. I never liked that marble staircase much and my youngest son shares my feelings - it didn’t feature in any picture. An exception, i guess, but for the most part i really like them.

Mostly to me, stairs symbolize good things - like something new and exciting awaiting at the top. A new view that can only be seen from the top. Or even when you go down you have a different perspective of your house or garden. I would love to climb the famous Eiffel Tower’s steps one day and take in that view! By going up a flight of stairs you might encounter adventure. In The Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy goes up a few flights and down and then up again and finds the entrance to Narnia in the cupboard. I guess that is what stairways do to me. They give me hope that life can change. That views can change. That they will lead to new paths. There is a hint of mystery, of adventure, of something exciting to explore. In a word....Anticipation. 

And that made me remember this verse...“Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See! I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it?” (Is 43) and so I stand at the foot of a new staircase and peer up but have the choice to take the steps or to leave them behind. And yes, some may turn out to hurt me (those exceptions) and old fears surface, but for the most, i hope that whatever i find up there will be quite worth it. And so i trust and climb. 

Bella