“beautiful things are transitory and fine times never last long”…

Like the Herman Hesse quote above suggests, everything one witnesses, touches, creates or takes part in…is only…temporary. The intricate pattern on a luscious leaf has a short life span before its edges harden, it turns colors and it falls to the ground. The memory of two five year old girls laughing and doing cartwheels on a bed of green grass fades into memory as their faces quickly mature and suddenly they are teenagers driving off in their fast cars. The coo of a newborn baby, her toothless smile and glimmering eyes staring at her adoring mother is but a snapshot that all too quickly is over in what seems like seconds.

What memories will you hold for a moment longer in your heart today before they slip away without any reflection or appreciation? What extraordinary things did you behold today that you can take pleasure in and revere? As I call her in my novel The Gossamer Thread, Source offers endless gifts that we can experience as miracles, or that we can simply overlook as commonplace, allowing them to exist without our gratitude. A man cleaning his window knocks down a spiderweb in a few seconds, which took the spider days, weeks, months to complete. An exquisite rainbow appears after an endless storm as two business men argue, completely missing the momentary splendor outside their office window.

Don’t miss the beauty outside your window. Look outside right now. Stand up. Breathe. Recognize that whatever moment you are in right now, whether it is one of grief, beauty or joy — it will be gone as quickly as it came. Each moment is one to be experienced. Most of us have gotten so caught up in the earthly world, driving from here to there, checking our emails, listening to the daily news, trying to survive, that we have forgotten how to really feel, sense and sink into our experiences.

If you take just a moment to back away from the chaos that surrounds you, the precious moments and hidden bits of  beauty will crystallize and become one’s to be celebrated and remembered.