Finding Spring

“The world is your palette. What seems ordinary can, with the right verbal brushstrokes, become a thing of beauty or intrigue” Fred White

In the last stubborn days of winter, when the weight of darkness causes us to stumble toward the promised dawn, it’s time to lift our heads and look with new eyes. “With the right verbal brushstroke,” as Fred White said, we can see our ordinary lives in a new way. For some, to do this only takes a mental or spiritual reminder. For others, it requires deliberate action .

Trace your child’s bare feet and listen to the giggles.

Bend down and listen to the sound of your grandchild sleeping.

Reach out and grab a pine branch then lift your hand to your nose.

Call or meet up with a friend you haven’t seen, or someone you want to know better, and talk about something that matters. (Golf scores and what your children are up to don’t count)

Find a stream and sit by it.

Get up and watch a sunrise, or watch a sunset in silence.

Do something for someone who’s struggling, especially if they’re someone you usually pass or ignore.

The list is endless, and I offer these just to get you thinking. Our ordinary lives can be extraordinary not because we achieve something monumental, or a profound blessing comes our way. All it takes is for us to see our lives as the gifts they are and treasure each moment, each day, as if it were our last. With such a mind shift, with such deliberate effort, darkness becomes light, and winter gives way to spring, or, as White said, our lives become things of beauty or intrigue.