A few weeks ago I stopped at a traffic light while I was driving home from Target by myself. I looked around and saw someone walking down the street with their backpack on this humid day. With headphones in, they didn't seem to mind the weather, and as they were walking they stopped by a flower bush that reached over the yard's small fence and smelled the flowers. Their face had happiness and content written all over it and they went on their way.
I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. I immediately had a goofy smile on my face as I was watching this person on the other side of the street. They actually stopped to smell the flowers.
Notice how this person was listening to music but wasn't walking down the street like a zombie with their head to their phone. This moment could have gone a number of ways, but I'll say it for the last time, this person smelled the goddamn flowers.
A clever Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it." And he is absolutely right.
Although our cellphones play a disgustingly huge part of our daily lives, it's not just about that. We're busy, or at least we tell ourselves we're too busy meanwhile we're procrastinating the day away. We're in a rush. Off to practice, to the grocery store, to class, trying to race home after work.
We get so caught up in the day, and before you know it it's pitch black outside and you can't see anything besides maybe a few stars. The point is, there is so much to see, and there is so much to miss. There is an incredible amount of beauty in everyday life that we tell ourselves we don't have time to see. It's taken for granted so much that we hardly even think about it.
Come back down to earth and immerse yourself in a moment. Be here. Look up, look around. Be curious. See how the flowers smell. Look at the way the light catches the grass between the trees. Look at a loved one focused on work, at the ladybug on your kitchen cabinet, or the sun as it's going down. Just observe what's around you; no experience required. Observations are what create news stories, novels, inventions, music, and other valuable things that keep our world turning.
These things aren't hard to see and these moments aren't hard to catch; they're right there in front of you. All you have to do is look up. Don't waste another moment.
