There’s a succulent aroma in the five am morning air that seems to quench my appetite as the crisp morning breeze creates an even more flavorful smell, but I do not smell it. In the distance a multitude of bright colors seem to slowly blend with the dark blue of the night to make it into a light blue of the day. In the next few minutes, a bright but soft pink and firey yellow immerge onto the natural canvas.
The Sun soon precedes its colors as it fills the sky and creates warmth that starts working deep within the soul. As the sun lights the earth, I do not notice it. I am in my 95 Hyndai Senata rushing to work. “C’mon, what are you waiting for!” I yell out at the driver in front of me. Obviously, they cannot hear me but somehow screaming at them makes me feel a whole lot better, or maybe more prone to anger. Beautiful flowers cover the grass parallel to the road, each its own color, unique in every way, but I failed to see them. The gorgeous array of multiplicity has no effect on my disposition. Contrary to simplicity and beauty of nature comes the rushing and cussing of occupations and our means in trying to get there. It’s ten until seven and I’m caught in this shitty traffic.
On most days, it’s the natural, sort of beauty that I overlook as I hastily make my way to work. I unintentionally forget to see the simple beauty of everyday life and I wonder how many Christians like myself, do the same. In fact, I wonder how many times Christians find themselves cussing and swearing even though it’s not even part of their character. We are so driven to succeed, to arrive at work and get it over with, that we forget the true meaning of living. Life is family, friends, the beauty of nature; life is actually taking in what is given to us. The prevailing natural beauty that surrounds us every single day goes unnoticed as if we were blind. We forget that the earth is a gift to us from God. God leaves this simple gift on our doorstep and we walk directly over it without even realizing it. I can only imagine how hurt He feels as we continue on without embracing the gift He created, or admiring the way in which his artwork comes together to form a beautiful, peaceful portrait. Earth is just a taste of Heaven but many of us only taste the coffee and nicotine that keeps us awake long enough to make it through the end of our shift.
Living life to the fullest doesn’t mean trying to make millions by working, it means taking time out of your busy schedule to take your children to the park and engage in their lives. Every moment spent with family, especially as they’re growing up, has an extraordinary impact on their future. Being able to encourage them through physical companionship and making sure the right path is being followed will be far more effective then mere finances. Money will always come and go, it is earned and then you almost never see those same dollar bills again. Childhood can never come and go because when that time is lost, it’s lost forever. Creating a strong foundation during childhood is what set’s the path that they will follow for the entirety of their lives. When there’s a lack of support and family commitment, it generates a negative and mild trauma that will create a small but trivial set back in later adulthood. Thus, taking the time to spend with family and friends and enjoying the things nature has to offer is extremely crucial in maintaining a positive environment.
Time is the most valuable gift that God gives us. Time is time well spent when we share it with others, others that we love or whom need our friendship. This time is a part in our life that is meant to grow as and individual and become wiser, not richer. Money fails to create wisdom because wisdom comes from time spent and learned upon. Time is the moments spared from long, busy days as we appreciate the goodness that we’re surrounded with. In essence, beauty is only seen when we obliterate the countless stressors that take over our lives.
As I take in the beauty of this morning, I knew God was present. God is everywhere that is pure. God is in precious time spent with the little ones, not in money. God is in the sunset that hugs the mountains and shines off the trees. God is in the conversation we had with our neighbor and the complete stranger at the grocery store. Ultimately, God is in all the places you take time to appreciate.
DREAM
It is a beautiful evening, around six pm, as I sit down at the table aligned perfectly with the window. Outside it’s lightly drizzling and the window catches the droplets of rain along with the reflection of the street light. Other than that little reflection of light, it remains pitch black outside. As I sit at the table I gently light the two red rose scented candles and take a sip of the sweet wine my husband poured for me. I wait for him patiently and quietly as he makes our dinner, an edible masterpiece that he takes only an hour to create. I inhale deeply and swivel my wine in the glass as I catch a whiff of the steak marinated in his own sweet onion sauce. Aww, that sweet succulent smell takes me back to a time when I stood at the foot of the alter in my white dress and beautiful, long veil. So as I sit at the table looking into the night, I can’t help but reminisce about that wonderful day.
I wave to my mom in the distance as I see her face glowing with joy and pride. As she sheds tears of joy, I know she is proud. I look to my left and see my brother grinning at me and I know he has a hard time holding back that smile, and even a few tears. His girlfriend stands directly across from him and she seems to be caught up in her own dream, her eyes sparkling with delight. My grandma and entire family are seated at the front row of the church, and they look at me as if I’m the most beautiful creature on this earth. My brother’s young daughter smiles up at me as she makes her way down the aisle while dropping the white and pink rose petals. Her eyes are full of admiration and I just can’t help but think she is the most beautiful, adorable little girl, and in my mind, I thank God for her.
“Dinner is ready babe,” my husband says as he places the plate of food gently in front of me. He lifts my chin with his finger and bends down to kiss my lips. With that, I’m instantly brought back into reality. It’s that past experience that led me to this beautiful anniversary dinner and it’s that wonderful memory that continues to make me smile. This relationship is simply beautiful, as it holds only a few arguments, a charming, hard working husband, and a family that loves and supports me…now this is the ultimate relationship.
Prayer
I believe in prayer, and the power it has to create miracles. I believe that prayer is like an important letter making its way to heaven with overnight delivery. Prayer is that warm feeling you get inside your soul, and the chills that seem to form from deep within. I cannot begin to describe the significance of every prayer that comes from every individual in the entire world. Prayer is an unseen and unheard letter sent to God from deep within. This letter contains personal needs and wants, and even stronger is the prayer asking for blessings for another in need. Imagine if prayer was visible, with an elegance of colors drifting from our bodies to Heaven. The prayers would cause a vertical rainbow filling the entire sky. Prayer is that letter that is answered in forms of miracles, these miracles seen in life, love, and health.
In the World of a Pisces with a Pisces like Me
An array of red and white rose pedals float atop the warm, bubbling water as the reflection of the lavender scented candles seem to dance to the tune of the soft, erotic music. Their reflections dance on the walls and move slowly and seductively. With the lights down low I immerse myself in the water and lye my head against the side of the hot tub as I take a sip of my chardonnay. Ah, the life of a Pisces.
Being so, I can immediately say that I am easily liked, persuasive, influential, determined, strive for attention, honest, and I think about others before myself. Let’s not forget romantic. I am a romantic lyricist, as I write the perfect romantic scenes over and over in my head. But then again it’s never reality. In fact, I do not even have a hot tub, let alone time to spend submerged in an ocean of petals. More so, I am unlike any Pisces you’ll ever meet. For one, I am utterly clumsy and gullible. In fact, instead of romantically slipping into the hot tub, I would have tripped on the radio chord and did an accidental dive into the water. It would have then made a huge splash (I am not exactly thin), caused the candles to blow out, and as I tried to rapidly get out of the tub to clean the floor, my hand would slip and I’d end up with a huge bump on my forehead. I’ve had tons of accidents and almost set a University dormitory and an airport restaurant on fire. Yes, now this is my life.
I’ve had more accidents than a race car driver and eighty percent of them never involved a motor vehicle. I’ve had the worst luck when it comes to bikes, despite the fact that it was my transportation for over two years. You’d think I’d get used to riding it after a while. Let me acquaint you with my endeavors. I’ve ran over a dog (he’s okay, really. And yes I’m fine too, thank you), ran into a parked car because I had no brakes, caused a scrape in his paintjob in the process and got into an accident that caused me to fly off my bike and slide ten feet under a parked car. For that one, I sustained minor injuries to the spine and contusions to the arm and leg. The worst thing is getting pulled over. Two cops pulled me over one night and told me that if I didn’t get lights, I could be cited. As I rode my bike home and around the corner, I couldn’t help but be thankful that they didn’t look into my record…I had a bench warrant. But those were just accidents, nothing close to burning down buildings.
To enlighten my reputation as a Pisces, the two buildings I almost set on fire were total accidents. Really, they were. I wouldn’t purposely set a fire while I was still in them, even a crazy person would run out first. The first fire was caused by a tortilla I had left on the burner and forgot about it a minute later. I may be a Pisces, but sometimes I feel as if I have the memory of a golfish. The second time I fringed my hair and set my work shirt on fire, while making omelets for the starving customers that were waiting to catch their flights. Yes. They allowed me to be head chef at the airport even after my tortilla accident. As I reached over one of the small burners to grab a handful of cheese, I failed to notice the spark that made its way onto my shirt. A minute later my shirt was in flames. A second later my hair was on fire. By the time I was able to put it out I had an oversized black fringed hole in the front of my shirt that exposed way more than I ever wanted to and my hair was charred, permanently. But then, this is my life.
Although my life is different in many ways from a regular Pisces, I continue to share a common ground with the rest of the fish world. Being like many Pisces, I am not easily angered as I am articulate about self discipline and patience. I can hold a secret for eternity if you tell me to, and I will find my way into your heart but far away from your problems. I will be there when you need me, as I am one to give advice and lend a shoulder to cry on, but I refuse to involve and indulge in your tribulations. Pisces also have the ability to communicate without verbal communication. With one simple glance and a raise of the brow, a Pisces can say everything they ever want to say without every saying it.
I believe all Pisces have the gift of being persuasive and influential, as we have a creativity that’s all our own. The clumsiness and gullibility sadly, is all my own. So when I go to greet you and then find out you were trying to get the attention of the person behind me, I will only laugh and pretend I was greeting the person behind you. So as I dance with my shadow in the center of the room, I dance alongside everything that makes me a different kind of Pisces.
