December 9, 2015
(If we live with an open and
grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during
the year I turned 70.)
As the train moved, I put my camera up to the window and clicked a blur. On this last day of my 365 Gifts project, the year seems to have whizzed by like the scene outside this train. Maybe this whirl of time is why I decided to pause and look at each day deliberately.
My friend Karen and I were on the way to Washington, D.C. with no special plans except to be open to the moment. After seeing a sidewalk sign for an IMAX movie, we wandered into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and bought tickets for the next movie. Seated in the second row, we watched a group of fifth-grade boys in front of us as they leaned back and perched their feet on the railing. The Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D movie began and the boys, with toes pointed upward, stretched their hands upward also, trying to touch the fish that appeared to be reachable with the 3D glasses. As in life, some things you can see only with special glasses and some things you can touch only with the glasses off. With the excellent photography, narration, music and child wonder in front of us, we too felt the child in ourselves.
Later we wandered to the Butterfly Pavilion where butterflies fluttered around us. We learned that a butterfly’s lifespan can be from one to three weeks. These amazing creatures dotting the space around us exuded magic. I have lived for 3,692 weeks and experienced 3,689 more weeks than these butterflies. If they can live in the moment and bring joy to others, I think that with my longer lifespan, I can certainly find a spot of joy each day and share with others.
In my blurred train photo, there is a small spot of light—a blink in a day, a week, a year or a lifetime.
My gift today is a year of bright spots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html
Bonnie, Thank you for having shared your year of gifts. They have helped changed my perspective sometimes when days do not turn out the way that I had thought they would. I plan to carry on your project on my own.
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful! Please share as it unfolds.
Delete