The Dancing Shadows

You know, lately I've been blessed to see a lot of beautiful things. And strangely enough, I saw some of these things while at Walmart!  The Big Suckbox is usually the last place you would see something beautiful. Hell, we all know they even have songs and websites about all the ugly you find there.  Beauty is everywhere though. You just have to really take the time to look.

The Walmart I find myself most frequently in front of has a large retaining wall to one side of it. The wall is ugly. The Walmart is ugly.  You know, basically just a wasteland of modern generic. A few weeks back though, that retaining wall became the most beautiful thing I'd seen in a long time.

There were several flocks of birds flying overhead.  Their progress was slow and graceful. They flew in V patterns, but quite often they would interlace the V's, almost like the groups of birds were dancing.  I watched the birds at first, but then I happened to glance at the retaining wall.

The wall was catching all the shadows of the birds.  And as pretty as the birds were themselves, the shadows were stunning.  The way the light slowed and distorted the shadows made them slow down as compared to the birds, making the patterns appear to be these complex weaving spaces that locked and let go and interlocked again.  I've never seen anything quite like it.

And for me, it really did feel like time slowed down. In fact, I can still pull myself back into that moment. I can still hear the birds above me and feel the sun against my skin as the shadows danced. In is one of the coolest moments of my life.  And . .  at Walmart!

I think we all need a good stash of memories like that.  The ones where everything seems to stop and we just hover in the moment, fully aware that this is a good thing and life is good and beautiful.  You know, because the rest of the time, it kinda sucks.

Seriously though, I'm glad I have those moments.  I think I cherish them more than anything else.  Many they can't keep my Zen when there is some crisis going on, but they can keep me pretty damned happy on the daily.

As just a little defense against the hell out there, maybe it's a good idea to keep a list of your best memories somewhere near.  When things start to suck, pull out the list. Relive those memories. Be INSIDE them. It might make all the difference for you.