“Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
― Mary Oliver
One thing that I noticed while being on vacation was that I was easily awed. Easily amazed.
It’s so easy when you’re on vacation, in a (hopefully) beautiful location. Feeling awe is easy when your view of the sunrise in the morning is on a beautiful coastline, or over the ocean.
It’s not quite as easy when said sunrise occurs outside of your office window, which for me means that it is visible over the track that’s just behind our building. A bit less awe-inspiring when there are light poles silhouetted against the sunrise.
But the thing is, it’s still beautiful – just in a different way. There is beauty in every day – there are awe-inspiring moments and things that make us wonder at the ways of the world. We just have to be open to seeing, hearing, experiencing them.
This is sometimes the hardest part of coming back from vacation for me. I love my routine, yes, but getting back to the mundane is always a bit of a let-down. When it’s a much-anticipated trip, as these trips were this summer, it’s even harder.
And yet.
I know that I will find awe-inspiring moments in my everyday life.
I know that I will find beauty in the everyday.
I know that I will have more opportunities to experience the wonder in our amazing world, whether that’s tomorrow on the way to the bus stop or on the next trip “away”.
Trying to keep my eyes and ears open…