It is easy to get caught up in the routine of day-to-day life. For example: My alarm tolls at 2:00 AM (yes, I am serious). I get up, grab my laptop, and a tablet of some kind, a Palm device, a smart phone, and start working in my den. I pump myself full of coffee. At about 5:00 AM, I pack my lunch, shower, shave, and by about 6:00 AM I’m heading to the car. By 7:00 AM I am at the office. I have to modify my schedule about three days a week in order to be in the office by 5:00 AM.
With all the prep and a thirty-minute drive to the office, I have to keep track of time really well or I’ll be late and I also have to keep a weather-eye when winter storms are predicted. I like being punctual.
Why do I get up so early? Well, I keep a “day job” for health insurance and other benefits. I don’t need it. I can get plenty of work without it, but, medical insurance is a must these days. I am up at 2:00 AM most days in order to write for several of my own blogs, do video editing or organize photographs from a shoot. I also do a lot of artwork on computer these days. In addition, my best writing (books) comes in the wee hours when all the world is asleep.
Slow Down…
I have always pursued my passions. Landscape photography is one of those. Even then, it pays to stop, look, and listen. The picture below is a Jewel blossom. It is one of the tiniest of flowers. This particular one was photographed with a 35mm film camera and a close-up filter on a 35-70 zoom lens. This specimen was only one-eighth of an inch long.
Had I been rushing down the trail to a waterfall I was planning to shoot, I would have missed this little gem. As it is, many people have never seen a jewel flower because they are so tiny anyway. Now, I look for them and I’ve been blessed to find them in several parks I frequent when in the past, I missed them completely.
I wonder how may other things I’ve missed on the trail? Have I trampled any such wonder underfoot?
Take time to stop, look, and listen. And while you are at it, take time to relax and enjoy the company of family and friends. Step off the beaten path and forget about the noisy, hectic world for a while. If you can, share the beauty of the world with others.
The rat race will be there when you return to it… trust me.
