Earlier today I was walking to the ice cream shop with my 7 year old cousin Naqiyah, when she suddenly put her arm in front of me to stop me from taking another step. I looked down and saw that I was just about to step on a pine cone. She picked it up and looked at it with the fresh eyes and wonder of a child. She touched it, inspected it and smelt it. She took a moment, paused her life and appreciated the beauty of something that I was just about to step on. This led me to wonder how many other small, beautiful things in the world we miss because we are too busy going about our daily life. I took a moment to think about the things that I have experienced/seen in the past couple of days and have compiled a list of beautiful things and experiences that I didn’t stop to take in. Better late than never I guess.
1. An instant connection with another human’s soul. That feeling when you meet someone and instantly instinctively know that this friendship will be special and long lasting.
2. The smell of grass after rain
3. Directly looking into someone’s eyes and holding that contact
4. A random act of kindness from a stranger
5. When you want to buy something and are slightly short of cash, then the cashier says “Don’t worry about it”
6. A squeezy hug
7. The patterns that are made by light through a stained glass window
8. Picking up a dandelion, making a wish and blowing it
9. Having a lady bug land on you and then crawl over your hand
10. A cat weaving in and out of your legs
It’s a shame that I missed the opportunity to stop and appreciate the true happiness that the beauty of these small things brought me. One thing’s for sure though, going forward I resolve to stop and take a moment to acknowledge and enjoy the beauty all around me. From now on no more stepping on pine cones.
S
I love this. #1 is me, right? :p
Mariya
You were the person I was thinking of when I wrote it 🙂 muah!