Thursday, January 8, 2009

Can You See the Signs?

Signs are everywhere. Can you see them? A few days ago I took a break from writing my book and went for a walk with my husband. We went down to Carkeek Park in Seattle. The tide is usually high when we visit this park, so we can't walk far on the beach. On this particular day, however, we could see that there was a strip of sand between the sea wall and the Sound. We walked and walked and walked on that strip of sand. The sun was blaring down on us. It got brighter and brighter and we were blinded by it. We were forced to stare down at the gray, sparkling sand while we walked. We both commented on how unusual the weather was for winter in Washington. We felt the light wind mixed with the smell of seaweed. The waves lapped gently on the shore. A few people walking on the sand bar with their dogs appeared to be in a blissful, sun-filled state which showed on their smiling faces. It was the beginning of January 2009, a new year and a new life! I stopped for a moment. Someone had drawn a big heart with a stick in the sand and wrote two names inside. It said, "Joy+Rich". I said to my husband, "Look, a couple wrote their names in the sand!" My husband said, "No, I think that's their new year's resolution!" At that moment, it occurred to me that maybe it was and that I felt those very words. It was summed up right in front of me. The signs you see depend on what you tune in to. What are you seeing right now?

9 comments:

  1. I love those moments. Snapshots in time, or out of time, or when time stops, or slows down, punctuating the moment. rob

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  2. Yes, there seem to be so many of those moments these days!

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  3. I think it's a great for new years to love someone more (and a succinct interpretation on SY's part). However, I always thought new years resolutions are overrated. Every single day, we should strive for self improvement...not just new years day.

    When it comes down to it, new years is just like any other. People die. People are born. People get sick. People break up.

    Every day is only as special as people want to make it.

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  4. Yes, very true! Every day is only as special as people want to make it. I couldn't agree more. How you choose to perceive any given situation is your choice.

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  5. When I was about 5, I was visiting my grandma in Palm Beach Sydney Oz and next door lived an old medical professor and one day, maybe it was on Christmas Day, he uttered the words: '....every day is Christmas Day', which resonates with me even to this day, when I recall that moment. Or maybe it just supports the grinch within. Needless to say, these days, it's easy to see how much more important the Prof's sentiment is/was than the travesty Christmas has become.

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  6. Hi tim, Yes, everyday should be like Christmas Day! or not. For some, Christmas is a stressful time or they'd like to just escape it all together. Every day is a gift, I believe. There's no certain way we should spend each day, it's up to us. There are no "shoulds". It depends on our own ideas and thinking. Everyone is different and that's the beauty of it.

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  7. He didn't mean Christmas day was Christmas day literally, just posed the question why should we favor or be driven to worship a particular day when every day is actually there to be siezed in the carpe diem sense, treated with equal respect and gratitude etc.

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  8. I'm seeing and feeling connection in you and that is bringing me back to my roots.

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