In this month of May-hem, it is important to focus on small miracles. When we are so busy we lose our centers, it's easy to forget the pockets of calm and comfort in our midst. The endless pageantry of end-of-school can distract us from the beauty of the ordinary.
A soggy walk through my grey, ugly neighborhood this morning reminded me. Here in Denver, we feel entitled to our sunshine. Nearly six weeks of daily rain and cold has us feeling rather out-of-sorts. My morning puddle-walk began as one more frustrating reminder of all the outdoor fun we should be having during the month of May. Once again, when I changed my perspective, I changed my mood. When I focused on the beauty--the good, the surprising, the wonderful--my urban neighborhood looked as enchanted as a fairy garden:
images from a rainy walk
May we do the same with our frustrating, hormonal, emotional, exhausted, end-of-the-school-year sons and daughters. Let's try to change our focus and see the beauty in their ordinary. Of course we should celebrate achievements, awards, rites-of-passage. But let's not get overwhelmed by the inflated language of the season. Let us remember to see our teenagers as the struggling, freaked-out-about-the-future, stressed-out-about-finals, enchanted young souls they are. What small, miraculous things they do!