Stop Looking And Start Seeing

So I used to be a manicurist who specialized in nail art. I had this post all thought out about how things have changed since I stopped doing it, but I realized something yesterday. Something that I'd forgotten. All because of a picture.

This picture...

That kind of burnt orange is one of my favorite colors, and I'm a sucker for frost being a huge fan of winter and all. But its not so much the beauty of the picture so much as the fact that I almost didn't even see it. It was just a bush. Nearly bare and and just sitting there in the section between parking spots at the hospital. And that's the thing. I think a lot of us forget to see what's around us.

Every day, I have to be a million things. A wife, a sister, a daughter and caregiver, an author, a house keeper, a cook... The list goes on and on--and that's fine. Its who I am and I like it that way. But its also chaos and rushing and sadly, rarely taking the time to not only look, but see.

And I'm not even talking about just viewing the beauty in nature. Yeah, there are a ton of missed moments. But its more than that. Its seeing the truth in the world around us. Realizing the simplest of facts. Nothing is as it first appears. We should be looking closer. Digging deeper.

From far away, this simple little plant was a nearly dead thing. Foliage on the side of the road. But its beautiful and complex. We see something, and whether we realize it or not, our mind forms an opinion. Maybe its that person on line in front of you. Be it their clothing, the color of their skin, or simply the expression on their face. You look and see one thing, when there's a good chance you're missing all the other things. The amazing things.

Think of the heart pounding stories we miss based on our dislike of a book's cover. The tasty treats we lose out on based on how it looks (I'm looking at you, Calamari...)

I guess when you think about it, we're not just missing moments when we fail to see the things around us. We're missing opportunities. Any any given opportunity has the potential to change our lives.

Whew. That was way more serious than I'd planned for my first official post. I need some help lightening things up. So how about this. You tell me about a food you had reservations about tasting for the first time (ahem...calamari) and what you thought after! Was it worth moving past your initial opinion?