Enjoy the Kiss of Life

The beauty of nature has the power to make my heart race madly and takes my breath away. Sometimes I wonder how foolish we humans are to run after money and achievements all our lives and when we are spent we seek solace and peace in nature. Just look at these colors in nature, doesn't your heart skip a beat when you see it. I enjoy these moments, I stop in my tracks and try to take in all I can through my senses. Then as though it is not enough I get my camera or phone out and freeze these moments in time. When I visit these frozen moments again they bring back the same memories, the same emotions and the same kind of peace pervades my entire being.

It doesn't have to be anything spectacular, just the simple, moments which may normally escape our eyes are powerful enough to affect us deeply. These droplets of water hanging on to the leaves of this succulent is an everyday scene after I water the plants, I could walk past them or stand by and let their beauty touch me. The way these droplets catch the light makes these simple everyday scenes in my garden seem like million dollar moments. Each drop captured here is so different and yet so beautiful in its own way, like life itself.

Sometimes I feel I am no different from this Japanese beetle. It's so lost in this moment that no matter how much I shake the flower it just wouldn't move from there. I almost walked past this normal but beautiful moment, but something made me turn back. I was mesmerized and when I recovered I clicked away at it. I was drunk in this beauty just as this beetle was drunk in the nectar and the perfume of this rose.

No matter how long I watched this scene it was not enough. Such was this moment, I wanted to save this moment in my archives, I shelved it in my memory, but there was this little nagging thought what if I forget the color or the perfume of this moment. I clicked on.

Burying itself deeper and enjoy the food that was placed before it this beetle may not have appreciated the beauty of this rose. It eats up the whole flower right from the heart, leaving ugly holes in the flower. However, I choose to see the beauty in this moment. Life offers us choices we can get caught up in pain and suffering or have eyes only for the beauty and enjoy it.

All that shaking finally shook this beetle from his resolve to consume as much as he could. I didn't want to hurt him but I didn't want my roses be destroyed completely. In a couple of days there would be a dozens of beetles in my garden destroying all the flowers. That is sure to make me sad as I have worked hard to get these flowers to bloom. Such is life. Someone needs to be the victim while the other becomes the victor. Win-wins aren't very realistic at times.

Dislodged, covered in pollen, satiated but the greed never seems to end. How much is enough? When do we stop? Does a man need acres of land to live and a palatial house while the poor die on the streets? Greed in different forms is what is killing mankind today. Greed to have more, greed to rule the Earth, greed to take what is not rightfully ours, refusing to share the space with those that belong here. Greed will be our ultimate downfall.

Life in all its simplicity is what we need for happiness. The more we possess the more we sweat and lose our sleep over. The less we possess the more time and willingness we have to stand back and admire. Often people complain that they have no time to let down their hair down and smell the roses, we don't need extra time, we just eyes and the desire to see beauty in the little things of life.

This new geranium I added to my collection has bloomed for the first time. I stood near it, marveled in its beauty and wondered life is so simple. These flowers have the power to change my mood, so does a drop of water on a leaf or some vibrant colors in nature.
All we need to do is to look around and with appreciation and wonder in our eyes like little children. It's all in our attitude. It's all in our wants and desires.

KISS - Keep it simple and straightforward
Keep it simple stupid
Keep it short and simple
Keep it simple and sweet

Just enjoy the kiss of life.