The scent of spring was as light as goodness, pure and natural, mixed with the smells of mulch and grass and the old-lady perfume of wildflowers. … I looked across the wooded canyon at Mount Tamalpais and shouted, “Thank you, Mother,” and would not have cared if someone had come along and heard me.
Anne Lamott — Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
I have had those moments, when mundane beauty breaks through my gray, sullen mood, and changes my day from dark to light. One day, I was complaining to a friend about how awful my life was, about how everything was going wrong and nothing was going right. As I paused, she asked me, “Did anything good happen today?” After a moment, I said, “Well… yes… it was sunny, and the snow on the trees was all sparkly.” Just that small, remembered bit of joy was enough to pull me from my funk and to change my mood for the rest of the day. To my friend, I could only say “Thank you. Thank you so much for reminding me that I can choose to see the dark or to see the light. Thank you.”
A meditation for February 5, 2013.