Gifts of nature and friendship

 Savoring simple daily pleasures

on one particular day this week, where I was feeling a little under the weather, had a full schedule and a long to do list- I received 3, yes 3, little had picked bunches of flowers. From friends, colleagues and a little girl. Those little punctuations buoyed my day and punctuated it with such unexpected and gentle surprises, a day the could have gone rather south, was actually quite special. Thoughtfulness, kindness and care with simple yet beautiful gestures.

It encouraged me to ponder all the other offerings of mother nature when we are outside, and i even saw my neighborhood in a new light (literally, a golden autumnal hue) and appreciate from a new angle the vignettes we pass by  many times a day. 

I feel the more I pay attention, the more I absorb these surroundings and offerings, the more they fuel my energy, optimism and positivity. I feel physically grounded and my balance being restored each and every time I step outside- however briefly. For that gift, I am truly grateful. A reminder to not take everything so personally or to heart, to be at peace, that I can only mange my own feelings and responses. 

on my evening walk tonight, tired on a Friday with the pizza dough proving on the bench at home and the week winding down, I also felt a strong sense of community- always through the locals I pass and greet or the cars that toot and wave, but though the plants and foliage too- their offerings and abundance, their rhythms and dependency. We are all part of it.

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives- if we remind ourselves of that, regularly, we can throw a very different light on our "everydays".