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| Thought provoking Art by Georgia O'Keeffe- Blue Flower |
This was a paragraph in one of my morning meditation readings last week.
Someone once asked the artist Georgia O'Keeffe why her paintings magnified the size of small objects - the petals on a flower - making them appear larger than life, and reduced the size of large objects - like mountains - making them smaller than life. "Everyone sees the big things," she said. "But these smaller things are so beautiful and people might not notice them if I didn't emphasize them."
Why do we spend so much time focusing on the big things in our lives? Tapping our foot impatiently and waiting around for the proverbial ship to come in. Then life will be really good.
I’ve had lots of those big blessings. A life of travel, adventure, my soulmate, big gifts, great jobs, plenty of attention.... I can tell you this, looking back over its course, those things were phenomenal and I am grateful. But, if you ask me what the most beautiful site I witnessed in the two months I traveled through Italy and France a few years ago, it wouldn’t be the Louvre, Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Casino at Monaco, or even the Vatican. My most moving, memorable experience was in the small town of Assisi, Italy, standing before the tomb of St. Francis. The energy of that humble saint reached out and touched my soul in a way I am incapable of describing and doing the experience justice. So simple. It imprinted my life.
If you ask me what my most memorable moment was with my beloved soulmate. It wouldn’t be the vacations to Mexico, Seattle, or London. It wouldn’t be the diamond tennis bracelet, nor the red convertible. The picture that comes to mind? Sitting sandwiched between his brother, on our bed, during the final months in his battle with colon cancer; holding hands, and watching a DVD of The Titanic. I can still close my eyes and recall how his hand felt in mine, its warmth, and how the room vibrated with laughter, tears (mine - the guys didn’t cry) and palpable love. So simple. Just a thought away.
I’ve felt so joyful this week. Every day.... someone has made mine. I didn’t win the HGTV dream home contest, nor book my cruise with Dr. Wayne Dyer and Company to Greece, Turkey, and Italy for October of this year: and the Publishers Clearing House didn’t arrive on my door with balloons, confetti, and a ginormous check in the amount of 1 million dollars.
Small beautiful things wafted into my days.
I took the two youngest girls to see The Lorax in 3D. We bought our tickets, got our 3D glasses. The little one grabbed a booster seat, and we settled in with our smuggled in snacks hiding out in my giant handbag. This was the first time the little one had been to a 3D movie. Her sister and I giggled. Her tiny frame was elevated by the booster so she could see over the seat in front of her. Her dark glasses nestled onto her button nose and she munched her popcorn. She was so intent. The previews ran, and then the movie started. The first image leapt out at the audience Real 3D fashion. Her reaction was priceless. She pressed her small body back against the seat trying to avoid a collision with visions reaching out at her, and in a five year old baritone voice (I know, I didn’t know a five year old possessed baritone vocal chords either) she said, “Whoa” Priceless.
Of all places to uncover more priceless treasures, mine appeared on Facebook in the form of few posts from my employer and a few friends.
Apparently, Wednesday was Administrative Professionals Day. A fabulous gift certificate to a local restaurant was a surprise, but an even greater shock, was to discover my bright shiny face, on my employer’s page wishing me a Happy Day. I had no idea, until I began to get emails and "likes". It was wonderful and that day, I felt like if God had a refrigerator, my picture would be on it! Instead my employer had a Facebook page and my picture was on it!
Thursday morning, a very sweet friend, with a wonderful sense of humor, left the most awesome video clip on my Facebook wall. He makes me laugh every time I see him. His message read, “I can totally see you doing this!! If I hook up some music, r u game?” You can access the clip here:
What a delight. The best part, he could see me doing that. My sense of adventure and joy in life must be apparent again. WooHoo! The small, beautiful thing was the reminder, we can all spread a whole heck of a lot of joy, anywhere at any time.
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| Georgia O'Keeffe's Pink Moon Blue Lines |
My most poignant, beautiful moment of the week arrived last evening via Facebook again. There it is again.... FACEBOOK. I may have to rethink my negative attitude about the pretense of real human connection Facebook falsely tries to offer up. (Nahhhh....) But, beautiful things can show up in the most bizarre of places and even technology can’t diminish them. My little soul sister, almost thirty years my junior, announced the opening of her dream come true. She has put herself out there, worked hard and is opening her own Art/Education/Entertainment venue in Chicago. Her announcement was followed by the statement, “I am doing what I know I want to do, for the rest of my life.” Big happy tears of joy flowed for her. Now, that IS one of those “Mountain Moments” in her life! But, this spectacular, courageous young woman didn’t chose to hoard the exhiliration of the mountain top all to herself. She took out her paint brush and magnified a small blog post I had written a few weeks ago. Posted next to it was this: Not only has this woman inspired me to share myself, she has also taught me that loving myself is the only way to help others. This blog post says it all...Thank you Rebecca Mahoney, you are one talented writer!
We all want those expansive, Grand Canyon moments; big excitement, passion, huge successes and can spend a lifetime in pursuit of those things we think we need to be happy; waiting for a specific joy. The Alps are breathtaking, but you know what, so is the edelweiss scattered all around the nadir of that summit.
What a wonderful life when we slip on those 3D glasses, magnifying the simple gifts and live in a state of “Whoa” for all the beautiful small moments that are really the essence on the big screen of our lives.
Woohoo to mindful emphasis on so many of life’s lovely little details.
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