Reflection

"If I had only...
forgotten future greatness
and looked at the green things and the buildings
and reached out to those around me
and smelled the air
and ignored the forms and the self-styled obligations
and heard the rain on the roof
and put my arms around my wife
... and it's not too late."
                                                                         - Hugh Prather

Today's kind of a special day - it's Earth Day. Mind you, I feel like every day is Earth Day in my world, but it definitely makes it more special, knowing that for one day, millions of people are attempting to put in the effort. That's really neat to me. I find however, that I'm extremely reflective today. I think it's because Earth Day could be a metaphor for "Simplicity". A day when we appreciate all things primitive and natural at their roots.

The quote above is from one of my most favorite books of all time - "Notes to Myself" by Hugh Prather. It's one of those books that you don't have to read in one sitting; but you can always find a suitable quote and make it applicable to your life on any given day. It's a book about a man who wanted to remind himself of things simple and more complex. I think one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because it reminds me of journals I had filled when I was younger. I recently read through a journal from when I was 16, and was baffled at what I had written. How I could've seen things in my life so objectively and write out what I'd learned from good and bad experiences. The quotes I put in there were so powerful and some of the entries I had written I wasn't even sure if that was my own writing? However, my 16 year old self was smart enough to leave notes at the bottom saying things like "You wrote this Becky" or, "This entry is about this particular thing that happened". It's like I knew I would wonder what exact moment I was writing about later on in life. Reading that journal motivated me to write on paper again and log my life. Not necessarily events, because I didn't even do that as a teenager, but lessons I learned in life, and things to watch out for, and things to appreciate.

Which leads me to the quote above. I opened "Notes to Myself" tonight and this was the first page I landed on. When I read it I instantly felt grateful that I wasn't reading it and having an "Oh crap! I'm too caught up in the chaos" moment, but that I had a sigh of relief because I really do enjoy every simple thing in my life everyday. It doesn't mean I don't struggle and have bad days, but there are a handful of things I appreciate continuously everyday. For example:

I love waking up to the sounds of birds chirping in the morning. I think it's one of the most beautiful sounds.
I love waking up to any weather, I just love that there's weather to wake up to. Extra special weather days however, are rainy mornings, or mornings where there is a fresh, cool breeze blowing in through my window.
I love lying in bed with my kids first thing in the morning and getting snuggled and jumped on and taking my time to get out of my bed before going downstairs to the smell of fresh coffee in my coffee maker.
I love that I have healthy food to eat, and enough food to feed my children so they can grow up full and in good health.
I love stepping outside in my bare feet and breathing in the fresh air and grounding myself to the earth before I try to take on the world.
I love spending time with my kids and reading stories with them and teaching them things that no daycare or school could ever teach them.
I love that I get the opportunity to be home with them and go on adventures with them and watch them grow right in front of me.
I love that I have a man in my life who lets me do that and supports me in every way possible.
I love that I have books to read, and instruments to play, and paper to write on, and even a computer to waste time on.

There are so many simple things to be grateful for, and I hope you all take time to appreciate even something as simple as the fact that you're breathing. You're still here. I feel like the media does such a great job using fear as a main tool of communication (which is why I'm so happy I don't have cable). I know that even on a day like Earth Day we could all feel fear in the sense that global warming is a major concern, and it's taken fear and guilt tactics to force us into action; but instead of focusing on the negative that comes with it all, try and focus on these things:

There is nothing bad about going back to the idea of living and working as a community.
There is nothing bad with wanting to support local, organic farmers.
There is nothing bad with wanting to eat well.
There is nothing bad with wanting to recycle and compost.
There is nothing bad with not knowing enough to go completely eco-friendly - it's trying that matters.
There is nothing bad with wanting to try and do what's right (and I don't just mean living green).
There is nothing bad with wanting to be more aware in the way you walk through this world.


So not just today, but everyday - appreciate the small, simple things. Take a moment to breathe and bask in the joy that you're alive and that....

It's never too late.