we stepped out of the forest and into the meadow. and it was filled with wildflowers, purples and hot pinks and blues and whites and bright yellow black-eyed susans. it is practically impossible not to smile in the presence of so many happy flowers. it is as if they are there simply to greet you, to cheer you, to make your way a tiny bit softer.

“and now i understand something so frightening, and wonderful—how the mind clings to the road it knows, rushing through crossroads, sticking like lint to the familiar.” (mary oliver – blue pastures)

we do. we scurry along, listing to the memories that perhaps least serve us, the road we’ve known, the road we know, the unfamiliar scary like the forest. our hand lingers over the delete button, but never touches it, knowing it isn’t just that simple. instead, we hold onto moments – clinging – to things that harm us, that take away from who we are, rather than celebrate who we are. we file them away, processing little as we store the times of our lives in boxes and bins in our minds. we come upon intersections and we often choose the harder road, bypassing the crossroad that offers rest or healing, the crossroad that offers choices we may never have considered, the crossroad that opens our lives.

“when will you have a little pity for every soft thing that walks through the world, yourself included.” (mary oliver – blue pastures)

the happy black-eyed susans whisper murmurings of encouragement to all who pass by. one must just be quiet and lint-free to hear them.

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY