Take a minute and breathe.
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| All Photos are my own works. |
I had to stop a
moment, just now, because for just a moment the Portland drizzle let up and the
clouds broke.. And with the blue sky to frame the clouds in the sky you have a
point of reference to see how freaking fast they are whipping by!
My eyes opened wide
and I stared like a goof for a solid minute then I fished out my phone for some
photos.
It is really amazing
how stopping for a minute and really appreciating the beauty of the world
around me can make me feel as though my heart grew two sizes.
I find that so often
I am hurdling though my day. I roll out of bed and fall into an outfit and
stumble into my car. Impatiently and gracelessly I get to work as fast as
possible even though I dread being stuck there. *clink clink clink* swing your
pickaxe at the dry, rough, craggy earth of the corporate salt mine for 9 hours.
Don't make eye contact, keep your head down until the whistle blows.
Barrel into traffic
to see if I can make it across town for before a store closes make it there 5
minutes before they flip the sign… "did she really just glare at me and
sigh for walking in here? Does she know what traffic is like!? Ugh.." Grab
what you need and slap some money on the counter and dash, just freaking DASH
to the next thing.
And… you get the
picture. I am living bucket-loads of life man, can't you see that? I mean, it's
low quality but I have a ton so that makes up, right?
I feel like this is
one part how we live our lives and one part fear of death and a sprinkling of a
hyper-speed society making me scurry just a little faster than needs be. When,
in reality, I find that it is those moments that I don't think "why is
this old lady chatting me up, I have NO time for this…" and instead know
that I have time to be kind, I have time to engage and connect and appreciate
and that will truly fill my day.
The best days that I
can think of are those where I have been open and allowed myself to be swept up
in the conversation. When I reach out to a stranger who is eyeballing a
cherimoya in the produce department with a look of fear and trepidation and say
"those are awesome, totally with a try" and give a big smile and a
thumbs up I have fun.
It takes time, it
takes effort but by god it makes life so much better. The problem is that you
have to stop, you have to slow down, to be able to accomplish these little
golden moments and that is hard. It is so hard to step out of the stream of
this fast paced life that whips around us and just enjoy the clouds racing by.
P.S. The clouds are
still whipping by but it is also sprinkling again but the golden morning sun is
hitting the rain and making the world look like it is covered in a layer of
gold cellophane.
