When I got to the top of my subdivision, up the winding road, it was a cool 69 degrees. The traffic light (as always) was red. I calmly accepted my plight and started staring at the gorgeous, Koolau mountain range facing me. Chiseled, pure, picturesque, majestic, and framed by a cloudless sky. I thought: “when was the last time I just stared, simply appreciated what unfolded in front of me, transfixed on a 3D picture postcard for the ages?”
Feral chickens clucked off to the side, perhaps commenting amongst one another about the zombie-like voyeur in the purring car. I marveled at the prominent, no… perfect, peaks projecting upward. A cool autumn morning, how cool; a mere moment to just reflect on how fortunate we are to have views such as this. Be it a park, a beach, a hill; find serenity. Seek it out as we all wait for life’s lights to change.
I needed no directional sign nor overlook nor hidden trail or famous beach nook; just a red light and 90-seconds of conscious free time. And I actually took advantage of it. No cell phone gazing; no flipping through the worldly misdeeds of the day. Just O’ahu’s spacious beauty laid out in front of me. Of course, my music choice du moment enhanced the whole experience. It was the brand new Beatles’ song, “Now And Then” (yes, a new Beatles’ song… look it up- great Peter Jackson video, too).
Anyway, do we ever realize what we miss if we don’t look up and focus on what’s in plain sight, a/k/a not seeing the forest for the trees? There’s so much pervasive adversity right now that one might opt to sometimes just not see, hear, or read about it any more. But co-exist and persist we shall. And this all comes on the heels of three-years of angst, contradictions, polarizations, and rewiring. “Now what?”, we shrug. We can all use a break and must give ourselves one, even if it’s minor or momentary. Because it’s right in front of us, if we only look.
I came upon my mini-break by chance. I’ve driven this same route daily for 40 years, and I usually don’t look up, or out. But that day, in just 90-seconds (the light always turns green), a manini piece of heaviness lifted; a great way to begin yet another day in paradise. Happy Thanksgiving.
Think about it…