Look Closely I’m sitting by the huge willow tree that was planted by my grandfather when he lived here. Dawn is the most peaceful time for me. The sun, which is in the process of rising, casts a glow on everything. There’s a slight breeze that comes every so often, lifting my hair and blowing tendrils across my face. Movement catches my eye, and I see a flock of birds soaring across the backdrop of the sky. The morning air smells clean and crisp. The day holds the possibility of all possibilities. Right now, there are no standards or expectations, only the calm that permeates my entire being. As I sit here, I reminisce on life before we moved here three months ago, when I wasn’t the kind of person who would notice all of these little details.
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Life was constantly whirring all around. People were always walking, cars were always passing, and bars and clubs were always harboring people through the night. I was continually moving, keeping my routine steady. Even when I got married and moved out, I still saw life as something I could color code and organize. I figured everything out before I had time to appreciate it. Take my husband, for instance. We started dating in our freshman year of college. He was my world, but it was as though I didn’t see everything about him. Back then, I didn’t notice how he has a little smile whenever he finishes a crossword puzzle. I took the little things for granted. City life had taught me to only see things from a …show more content…
We all strolled around the yard, looking at Grandma’s assortment of plants. I smelled the scent of pure earth, and the air was so warm. My view of the sky wasn’t shrouded by power lines. The beauty of it all struck me hard, harder than when I used to go there as a kid. As I took everything in, a memory of when I was a little girl swam to the surface. I remember Grandma and I had been working on her garden. “What are these flowers called again, Grandma?” I asked. “These are oriental lilies,” she explained, “Do you like them?” I shrugged, “They’re okay.” My Grandma set down the pot in her hand, and turned to face me. I knew that look on her face, it meant she was about to say something profound and she wanted me to remember it. “Skye, look closely at the flower. See the deep pink on the inside? See the spots that speckle the petals? What about the pure white on the outside? This flower is not just ‘okay,’ just like nothing else is just ‘okay.’ Everything has beauty, and sometimes we shrug it off because we’re going too fast to really notice the intricate details. Sometimes, we need to slow down and appreciate things for what they really are. Life is much more interesting when we notice every single part of something.” After that, she goes back to her gardening. I didn’t listen to her
Life was constantly whirring all around. People were always walking, cars were always passing, and bars and clubs were always harboring people through the night. I was continually moving, keeping my routine steady. Even when I got married and moved out, I still saw life as something I could color code and organize. I figured everything out before I had time to appreciate it. Take my husband, for instance. We started dating in our freshman year of college. He was my world, but it was as though I didn’t see everything about him. Back then, I didn’t notice how he has a little smile whenever he finishes a crossword puzzle. I took the little things for granted. City life had taught me to only see things from a …show more content…
We all strolled around the yard, looking at Grandma’s assortment of plants. I smelled the scent of pure earth, and the air was so warm. My view of the sky wasn’t shrouded by power lines. The beauty of it all struck me hard, harder than when I used to go there as a kid. As I took everything in, a memory of when I was a little girl swam to the surface. I remember Grandma and I had been working on her garden. “What are these flowers called again, Grandma?” I asked. “These are oriental lilies,” she explained, “Do you like them?” I shrugged, “They’re okay.” My Grandma set down the pot in her hand, and turned to face me. I knew that look on her face, it meant she was about to say something profound and she wanted me to remember it. “Skye, look closely at the flower. See the deep pink on the inside? See the spots that speckle the petals? What about the pure white on the outside? This flower is not just ‘okay,’ just like nothing else is just ‘okay.’ Everything has beauty, and sometimes we shrug it off because we’re going too fast to really notice the intricate details. Sometimes, we need to slow down and appreciate things for what they really are. Life is much more interesting when we notice every single part of something.” After that, she goes back to her gardening. I didn’t listen to her