Clutter

At the base of this yew tree, there are ginkgo leaves, spruce needles, berries, rotting wood. It’s a mess. And yet, the more I look at it, the more it refines itself into a canvas, a portrait, something worth lingering over both visually and intellectually. Colors, textures, shapes seem to work together to create something intriguing to look at and think about.

That’s an approach I want to cultivate every day. It’s all ordinary until I focus my attention and then it might reach toward extraordinary. It’s an aspiration, of course. It might be hard to live that on your way to work or with a hungry, unhappy child. Still, the effort is worthwhile.

For now, I’ll settle for reminding myself that beauty and balance are present in unexpected places and at inconvenient times. Somehow keeping that in mind makes it a bit more likely that I will notice when it shows up, amidst the rhythms and cadences of our days.