There’s Something Special You Need to See
The lantana flowers are in full bloom in Central Texas right now.
They’re commonplace in the front yards here growing so profusely it’s easy to walk on by without giving them any thought.
But if you just pause and notice, you’ll see something really special.
Look closely and what appears to be one pretty, colorful flower is actually a cluster of teeny-tiny flowers. Each one is unique, complex and beautiful on its own and also a part of the beautiful whole.
Like looking at the enormity of the night sky, the impossibly small intricacy of this flower also inspires a sense of awe and wonder.
This feeling enveloped me on my morning walk the other day and I had to stop and take a picture to try and capture the beauty I was seeing and experiencing.
As I was kneeling there trying to get my iPhone to focus, a butterfly flew in and landed on the flower. No joke. (The pic above is proof!)
I was delighted!
Talk about amazing little creatures. Gorgeously vibrant and simultaneously delicate and strong. Then there’s the fact that they’ve literally transformed themselves from a crawling caterpillar to a flying butterfly.
That flower.
That butterfly.
I couldn’t help but think of my beautiful boys.
Their growing bodies, their interesting personalities, their complex brains, their unfolding lives.
My heart was filled with gratitude and amazement at the life around me.
These beautiful things and beings and people that are a part of our every day, easy to walk by, easy to take for granted.
But if we just slow down for a moment it’s also easy to recognize the miracles that they all are.
Then it hit me in a mind-blowing way.
I am an integral part of this extraordinary life too!
So are you, my friend.
Do you see that you are just as miraculous?
Just as miraculous as a flower, a butterfly, a child.
How often do you sit in gratitude and amazement, in awe and wonder for who you are and how you’ve unfolded and transformed in your own life?
I see you.
You are beautiful and unique. You are intricately made – body, mind and spirit. Extraordinarily delicate and powerfully strong at the same time. A necessary part of this gorgeous, connected, complex life.
I invite you to pause a moment and notice. I promise you’ll see something very special.
Originally published on July 23, 2021