A follow-up to yesterday's post

After much speculation all day yesterday about whether I should go back and take a picture of that heart I found on the ground or not, today I went out in search of it to see if it was still there.

It was.

I was surprised at just how easy I was able to find it again when I went looking for it!

Now yesterday, when I had seen it, I had assumed this to be a chunky plastic bead or some such thing. As my eyes landed upon it today, I thought it to be a piece of painted wood. No, no... Upon closer inspection, this is actually a colored piece of soft foam. (Annnnd into the pocket it goes.)

How interesting, though, that as I began to walk with it, the same sort of deep introspective thoughts began tol roll around inside my brain. When I first passed this by, I had thought it was plastic - and metaphorically, when I passed it, I thought it was something cold and hardened, able to weather the storms of the world, even if a little worse for wear. Able to fend for itself, I left it be. Yet, when I came back to it and actually looked at it for myself, I found it to be something soft, vulnerable, and warm. Something that would certainly be destroyed if left alone again. I picked it up and turned it over while still looking at it and dusting it off and found the damage to the back, where it clearly used to have been glued to something - who knows what - but had fallen off. Yet it took the eyes of someone with a gentle nature to recognize it as something of worth, something lovely, something worth saving.... I can't help but make the comparison to those of us who've had our hearts broken, been left behind, kicked to the curb, but eventually became loved again once someone special found us who saw us for what we're truly worth. Perhaps a little worse for wear around the edges, but still good.

For the record, I took it home, washed it clean, and glued it to the side of my bookcase. Now she has a permanent home. :) I know, it's something small and silly, and all of you reading this probably think I'm nuts for making such a big deal out of it, but it was profoundly meaningful to me. It's often the tiny things like this that make the biggest impact for me.


Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change.

How Easy It Is To Pass Love By

I took my morning walk, as I usually do, and brought my camera with me today. Sometimes I do that. I get into a mood where I just feel artistic and see the world through a pair of rose-colored glasses, and I see the art and beauty in everything and just want to capture it as best I can the way that I see it.

As I was walking up my street, in the final stretch to my house (it's a long street), something on the ground caught my eye and made me pause for just a moment. A little pinky-purple plastic heart was laying on the ground, amidst the leaves and suburban debris. I smiled to myself a little and continued walking. As I walked, I found myself waxing poetic (probably much more than I should have) about my secret find.

Love is everywhere. Even in the most unexpected of places. You might pass right by it and not even know it. Not even recognizing it for what it is and dismissing it without a second thought. Taking it completely for granted.

I started to debate whether or not I should walk back and take a picture of it after all, given all these deep thoughts it was sparking...or better still, go and pick it up and keep it. I decided against it, figuring that maybe I'll just take a picture of it tomorrow and take it if it's still there and if no one's looking. This, too, evoked deep thoughts.

How careless and thoughtless we can be sometimes with other people's hearts. Putting it into perspective, I might say that this could be a reflection of the way we've been known to treat people before. We may know damn well someone has feelings for us, but frankly, we just don't about them. Or we don't want to take the time of day and effort involved in it. Or we're worried about how it would look if we were seen with so and so and only dare give them the time of day if nobody will know about it. We might put this person on the backburner... Not completely shooting them down, but keeping them in mind as a 'just in case all else fails' type of thought. You assume that if nothing else, they'll still be there later and if you feel like it, you might pursue something then. And then the reality of life sets in when you realize that when you're ready for them, they probably won't still be there...either metaphorically speaking (i.e. they're now taken), or physically they are no longer there. And yet, we let pride run our lives. We usually don't even realize it when it's happening, and it's only upon deeper inspection and reflection that we realize this about ourselves.

As humans, we are very strange and complex creatures. It's part of what makes us wonderful and beautiful, but it's part of what sets us apart from all of God's other creatures as well in a negative way too. It's easy to say things such as all you need is love, but when it comes down to it, how many of us *actually* live by such words? I'll give you a hint: there wouldn't be so many lonely people in the world if we did as we said. We're picky, we're egotistical, we're spoiled. As such, it's so easy to walk right past love and not even recognize it for what it is....and you may have just walked past Mr. or Ms. Right, for all you know. We need to really learn to open our eyes and listen with our hearts. This is something that as a society, we're progressively losing a grip on. Technology has come so far, and brought so many people together that otherwise never would have met for geographical or other reasons...and yet, we're losing the simple art of human touch and connection.

Food for thought.