the little things…
i’m not a stop and smell the roses type o’ gal.
i’m just not. why even kid myself.
i’m the type who picks out a dozen roses (and/or tulips and/or…), and pays the cashier at the local korean deli or florist. i don’t smell them. i go for color, and truthfully, i’m not a red girl. i’m more a purple girl.
and i’m definitely not a “wow, there’s a baby jesus in the foam in my coffee,” kind o’ gal.
but today, today… i saw & witnessed tiny wonderful exquisite miracles everywhere.
holy moly.
right smack in the middle of a gorgeous luscious farm i saw an old, old rusty farm truck with a small american flag – the stick tucked into the windshield – waving. majestic. extraordinary. a photo. it took my breath away.
i watched an old man and his granddaughter holding hands, walking down broad street, when out of no where she tugged on his shirt and he bent down and she kissed him on his nose. perfection. pure love.
i saw a flower pushing it’s way up out of the earth – from a crack in the sidewalk – and it just made my heart stop. how determined. how beautiful.
i saw a tree that i had never ever looked at or noticed before leaning oh so heavily because of the rain, and i knew it would never break – bend, yes – but never break. it was stunning and strong and reminded me of so many people i know who are powerful & strong & filled with hope and grace.
i saw a local man at the post office collecting mail for his elderly neighbor and watched as impatience turned to kindness. a huge heart.
and just a few minutes ago, when i said to ken, “geez, i’m awfully hungry, how about i make a frozen pizza?” he disappeared & returned with a massive bowl of fresh gorgeous delicious greens from our garden…
a gracious plenty.
i swear, it’s everywhere.
everywhere.
from now on, i’m gonna try really hard – really frickin’ hard – to stop and smell life.
Category: Uncategorized 12 comments »
June 24th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Another step in your journey is to try and see the negative space between those branches and between all items. I do that a lot. It gives you another prospective, rather than seeing what exists see what exists between the reality.
I love to smell the rose and I include people watching (my favorite activity).
Love you Amy Ferris.
June 25th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
YES Amy, my dear friend. It’s the little things that matter. The people that check us out at Home Depot, the people who we see in the post office, the person next to us at a red light. And it’s YOU. Those who care enough to stop and think and listen and love those around them. Thank you for being you.
June 26th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
What an absolutely perfect day. I’m so glad you had that.
June 26th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
A gracious plenty of a column. Thank you.
June 26th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
THIS is inspiring.
June 26th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Gorgeous. Thank you, Amy!
June 27th, 2011 at 1:10 am
and thank you, dear amy, for widening our eyes, to see even more that we think we do every day, to the little beauties. thank you for tellling me and showing me how to find a blog, so that i can become party of this world of caring and love. i always wonder every spring, how do they do it!! how does that little fragile plant , leaf and flower ever survive the hard winter, to become even bigger, better and stronger every spring.. then i think.. those little fragile winterized beauties of nature are us, yes, amy, i think there is such a thing as spring awakening… and you just reminded me of it. i love you… brenda
June 28th, 2011 at 2:05 am
Amy,
I don’t feel like this very often but when I do it makes me very happy but at the same time, very sad because I cannot seem to get there often enough. Only for brief moments will my twisted mind allow me glimpses of the bountiful places that you describe so beautifully for us. Thank you so much for sharing this with my heart, for it is there that your words have traveled.
Donald
June 29th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Lovely. It’s not always easy to pay attention to the little things. But when you do and you see the beauty of life, that’s heaven.
July 1st, 2011 at 1:07 am
Found u through a UCI trail
My day began as the 600 dread day of a long project
but I went around the house to peek on the early moring squirrles
testing my bird feeder to the max
and danced with one
back and forth, hide and seek around the tree trunk
til work called
and 601 dread day began
July 1st, 2011 at 8:12 pm
beautiful!
cheers to smelling life!
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:16 am
Hey! I know who that David is! He’s a former student of mine and a great writer himself! (Nothing to do with me; he just is a great writer.)