Stop And Smell The Dandelions!

It’s amazing to me the many little things we look over everyday. All the beautiful little things in nature that we so often take for granted.

Consider the fuzzy black and yellow honeybee taking a sip of nectar from a soft, yellow dandelion (there is no such thing as a”weed ” to a bee!). The oak leaf drifting down to the earth, clothed in a beautiful array of color ranging from green, to yellow, to red. The tiny brown vine which has wrapped itself so tightly around a flower stem, as if it’s holding on for dear life.

We so often absentmindedly go about our day, preoccupied with all that encompasses our busy lives, that we forget to stop and smell the dandelions. (Did you know they have a sweet scent?) We forget to take in the beauty around us.

Sometimes it takes an artist’s eye to bring these to our attention. The eye of a photographer. Someone who has an eye for the little things we don’t always notice.

And yet, as a photographer and artist myself, all too often I slip into that same preoccupied mode. That absentminded mode. Yes, even the photographer sometimes forgets to notice those little things.

That’s why we have to inspire one another. Through our lens, though our minds’ eye, and through our words we can inspire others to stop and smell the dandelions. To appreciate the simple things in life. To slow down and start living. To take in the beauty around us, instead of letting it pass us by.

Can you imagine how less stressed we would be if we would just take five minutes out of our busy day to stop and take it all in. Take in the beauty, fill our hearts with the peace that comes from the little, simple things. I think it would make a great difference in how we treat each other, most of all. We would appreciate each other more. Appreciate our earth more. And appreciate life more.

So please, take a walk with me. And let us stop and smell the dandelions.