I wake feeling grateful every day. I find myself interested and enthusiastic as I wake, casting my thoughts here and there checking on my family members. I want to be interesting and share with others. I want to know about each person that enters my life. Some come at the grocers, sacking, checking, or standing next to me in an isle considering cans of chili with or without beans. Some come through marriage to a member of my family, my large family.
Some enter my life through my spiritual search and others paralleling my writing and painting endeavors. So many lovely people to enjoy and learn from.
I choose beauty. On my first visit to Mexico City, I was appalled. The grey from diesel coating the streets and sidewalks. ! The blowing trash and smears and spittle. I was complaining and whining when my companion said, “You don’t like the filthy sidewalk, look up.” I looked up to see the stunning architecture of the Zocolo, the beautiful cathedrals among modern buildings and charming cafes. That became the mantra for my life. If I don’t like what I see, what I am experiencing, I Look Up. Look for the positive, search for beauty.
Anthony Doerr wrote: “The mind craves ease; it encourages the senses to recognize symbols, to gloss. It makes maps of our kitchen drawers and neighborhood streets; it fashions a sort of algebra of life. And this is essential --------- Without habit, the beauty of the world would overwhelm us. We’d pass out every time we saw – actually saw – a flower. Imagine if we only got to see a cumulonimbus cloud or Cassiopeia constellation or a snowfall once a century: there’d be pandemonium in the streets. People would lie by the thousands in the fields on their backs.”
Yes, we do encounter loss. There is loss. Loss, too much to bear. But I do. We do. I compartmentalize and tuck the grief away until a symphony, a whiff of perfume or a child’s laughter builds the grief in my chest threatening to burst into sobs. But we Look Up and move on.
A passionate movie, my memories overwhelm me of a lost lover and I descend into despair, but I Look Up and move on. It seems foolish to waste our precious time on negative things we cannot control.
Daily life can dull us. I want to see – really see – the beauty of my surroundings. I want to be aware and care about those around me. I want to live every minute to the fullest. I Look Up.
Comentários