What inspires you to awe?

Oh, the healing, transformative power of a floral bouquet!

I begin to speed past it in the market, and suddenly freeze. I make a u-turn and take a few slow steps backward so that I can see it again.

“Ahhh” I can’t help saying.

Look at the artistic drama of the purples, yellows and whites! Each flower is so different, yet together they inspire awe.

What causes you to stop dead in your tracks and proclaim the beauty? There must be something. Several things must, if you are paying attention to the world around you. Ah, but there is the tricky part, isn’t it? How do we avoid rushing past beauty? How do we allow ourselves a pause to notice, and then to gasp. Who are we to be in the presence of such wonder? Or to paraphrase Nelson Mandela, who are we not to be? 

It is our duty to ourselves to stop, and really see what would call forth a reaction in us of childlike discovery.

“Buy the bouquet!” my husband proclaims. Oh I mustn’t. It is frivolous to spend money on something that won’t last.

Ah, but nothing lasts in this world. All thing pass, and change.

My husband buys me the bouquet.  And my momentary delight now travels with me as I leave the market with beauty in my grasp.

Is life so serious that I cannot allow myself a breather to cherish something lovely? My heart wells up in gratitude for a husband who understands better than I do my need to prolong these experiences of joyful amazement.

I carry beauty with me. 

As I remove the cellophane at home, I have an urge to go work in the garden, even though the tasks are ugly—pruning, clearing away debris, mulching, sweeping and weeding. The bouquet inspires me that the work I do now will generate more blossoms like the ones  now royally ensconced indoors.

They have inspired hope.