Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Five Minutes

Imagine you're out walking, as I was this morning, and like me you see a flash of sparkling white on the ground:



It might be a scrap of paper; it might be a bug. Your impulse may be to step on it, but you'll find out more if you take a minute to have a closer look:



You make out the tiny legs, the elegant curve of wings. A ghostly little butterfly or moth, you think, solving the mystery in another sixty seconds. But there's still more to discover. To do this, you have have to step out of the light and look at it again, even closer, from different angles:



Now you've wasted three minutes, but you can see the shadows as well as the light. If you're captivated, as I was, you'll move in closer, and see details you might not have noticed on your first or second glance. Another two minutes may pass before you'll realize the reason the little critter was sparkling, and how beautiful he is, this thing you might have passed by or stepped on or ignored.

Look at him again. This tiny thing not only brought wonder and delight to my day, he also solved a major dilemma I've been having with a story. All because I took five minutes to stop and marvel.

There are entire universes of such creatures out there, tiny things that flit by you on a daily basis. To truly see them and all their hidden glories requires only a bit of curiosity and a few minutes of your time, but isn't it worth it?

7 comments:

  1. Ohhh, it's beautiful.
    Thanks for the reminder, Lynn. Quite right.

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  2. Living out in the high desert of Colorado I have, on a daily basis, myriad opportunities to stop and look. Yet sometimes I don't. Thanks for the beautiful reminder.

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  3. Your photographs are beautiful. Thank you for the inspiration.

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  4. Love this, needed the reminder.

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  5. What a pretty little moth. I occasionally see the things around me with more than a passing interest. I studied a green walking stick Saturday for awhile. He was very cool. Nothing came to mind with my stories, but it was still time well spent.

    I really need to slow down...

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  6. Those wings are so cool. Because I don't drive, I have to walk a lot and it amazes me the things I take notice of that people drive past without caring.

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  7. I needed a reminder, too! Lovely!

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