How did your sky look yesterday? Cloudy? Did it spit? Was there wind that tangled your laundry or a breeze that curled your hair? How about the colours? Was it as blue as blue can be, or as grey as a pebble? Grey as a Russian Blue?
Hold within
Catch the part where it turns peach pink. Catch it and capture it. Fill your eyes full of pink that its beauty is held within. Like a breath, you will have to let it go, but fill it back up with the red that flames the clouds, then welcome the navy turn onyx. Welcome the green that clothe the trees.
Count all the shades they show in the sun, all the layers you cannot even name. Look to the side, up and around, not just down. Watch, watch the foliage flitter in the rhythm of the wind. Is this their ballet? Their waltz? Spring has come, leaving its coat by the door.
Be the audience
So, open your window, let the loud silence of the morning, that quiet chaos, into your room. Be the audience for the songs that birds compose. Be the audience for the show that trees perform.
Fill your ears with their stories, your eyes with their colours. Let your eyes dwell, your mind spell out the new season. Smell the daily air that is free to all. Smell the wind, the rain in it. Though grey the sky may be, stay. Longer than you are used to – wake and take the gift.
In life slowed down
What a strange time we are in. Everything has slowed, ceased but our minds so uneased. Even the wisest of us shake their heads in doubt, the strongest of us stuck.
Out of loud boxes crawl numbers, graphs and ‘fear’ – a shapeless, soundless curtain that covers us from head to toe. Out of its pocket comes ‘anxiety’ – with teeth like claws, it is always ready to eat us away.
Appreciate
So, let us take in a deep breath. A huge breath from the fresh air we had let into our rooms and draw away our fear. Spring has come, bringing in blossoms of hope.
Let us not lose it. Let us not cover and blind ourselves from the uncountable colours of our daily lives. Let your eyes dwell on your loved ones, your lips utter thanks.
Smell the daily air that is so free, the salt in it around the ocean, the coffee and freshly baked bread. Feel the soft, clean laundry and track back the days you walked in them. Appreciate the water that washes, quenches and grows.
Sing songs of spring with the birds, the blossoms, the sweet biscuits and brownies, the buttercups bustling in the blissful breeze. In each blink, capture the light that is still within the darkness. Though grey the sky may be, stay, wake and take the gift.
Reflections
In Korea, the toll of COVID-19 seems to be slowly settling down. Everyone is still tense however, as we know we cannot be rest assured yet. While there are amazing scientists, doctors and experts working hard in the frontline making test kits and possible vaccines, nobody knows when we will finally be able to go back to our usual routines.
But with the reduced speed of daily life, I began to notice more in my view and realised that in my busy life before the outbreak, I had forgotten to be truly grateful for the gifts God had given us so freely.
With these thoughts, I made a short clip. Check it out if you are interested