Noticing

Last Friday when Sweetie and I were on our way to the hospital to welcome his newest granddaughter into the world, we drove along 8th street, not one of the nicest in town. I was pretty excited and focused on the idea of babies and new life and how God can weave tremendous blessings into an otherwise ordinary day, so I wasn't paying much attention to our surroundings. When we stopped for a red light, I looked out the window and noticed, a tree next to the sidewalk.  Someone had planted some flowers at the base of the tree. The yellow blooms stood out among the beer bottles, and other litter lying lifeless in the gutter.  A little further down the road, I noticed one of the old Victorian homes of the neighborhood had been painted half yellow and half purple. And after that I noticed a huge metal horse sculpture in front of a house that had been converted into an art museum. It's not every day you see a larger than life silver horse in someone's yard.

That's when I realized I sort of got out of the habit of looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary. My focus turned inward, and not surprisingly, a tad negative. I reminded myself that attitude is a choice just like planting flowers along a litter strewn street. Opening one's eyes to the wonder and glories of each day, then feeling grateful for blessings, both large and small, go a long way towards turning a frown upside down.

Today I noticed that my hip is giving me fits. I think it's bursitis. I've had it before. It feels like a charlie horse, only it's in my hip (glutes?) and it causes a cramp down the side of my leg. It was giving me a fit as I stood over Mary's hospital bed feeding her some chocolate pudding. Then I noticed the grimace of pain on her tired face and had to say a prayer of thanks that I was not in that much pain.

I also noticed how, no matter, what I feel like going in, I always feel better after a couple hours with my writing group friends.


I'm rededicating myself to a Year of Noticing. Won't you join me?
Merry ME

PS. Ayslin Marie Cook was born on Friday, May 17. I noticed a real difference between the grandparents and friends on one side of the nursery window and the nurses on the other side. It was another reminder of how something can be just another day at work, or it can be a celebration of the Divine One's most precious gift.