It’s here! The week I’ve been waiting on all year. It’s not necessarily marked on the calendar by the advent of Spring, but by the glorious pale blooms that burst into view right outside my kitchen window.
Why so special you ask? You see, the blooms on this tree lure me to linger a little longer while washing the dishes. My kitchen window becomes a private screening to a world of easily overlooked beauty. These blooms come alongside extended days and rain that make the kid’s mud pie kitchen a perfect space for imagination. This inviting scene makes washing dishes a joy rather than a chore.
Finding the magnificent in the ordinary has become my new quest. These blooms sum that up.
I could complain about the continuous cycle of dirty dishes awaiting me, the mud the kids are getting on clothes and shoes, or the garden that is currently unusable because it proves to have the best mud for pies- but I choose to find the beauty. I choose to look up at the blooms, the blue sky with which they contrast. I choose to listen to the birds, the humming of bees, and the laughter of children who are delighted with playing in the dirt. Some might suggest denial, but I disagree. I’m seeing something new. I’m choosing to push past what my eyes have focused on and search for something bigger, brighter, more hopeful than what my nature might lean toward.
When one arrives at the intersection of Motherhood and Midlife, we find ourselves facing the dichotomies of life head-on. It’s getting harder to ignore the fact that life’s opposites co-exist. Rather than fighting and running from the ugly, the painful, the messy, and the broken parts of our lives; can we take a closer look and discover that they are mere elements of a beautiful existence?
The ordinary and magnificent, the glorious and mundane, beauty and ashes, chaos and nurture, joy and sorrow. They all run parallel and we have a front row seat to the show of our lives if we change the way we see it. Will we only choose to see the lesser of the two or begin to look for both?
Our world is filled with highlight reels, moments for comparison, and negative internal dialogue. We women have to fight off lies that we aren’t doing enough, and we aren’t giving enough. Lies that we are not enough.
What if we call it quits? An end to the keeping up, an end to the comparison and just find joy in the moment. It is surely easier said than done.
In our lowest points, will we zoom in and search deep for something beautiful and hopeful? In our high points and moments of joy, will we zoom out and choose to be vulnerable and show the whole picture?
Today I choose to zoom in to these incredible blossoms. To look beyond the mess, the chaos, and the mundane. The magnificent in the ordinary. What will you choose to focus on today?
my ordinary
Love it! Look forward to more!
Thanks Amanda!