a gift

So often our hurry up lives leave us missing moments...the little details that soften the hard edges of long days. To me, the details take away the mundane...remove neutrality, elevate - yes, elevate our lives. But, I get caught up in busy and miss these moments.

So, as I throw in the towel to this illness that has swept into my body this week...I also step off the roller coaster of December. I am forced to ease back, to slow it down, to lay low.

And what do I notice - the details. The chime of our mantle clock, calling out the hour as it has done for 100 years. The soft light coming in through the dotted green curtains, like being touched with magic. The solid warmth of a cat at my feet, the loyalty that awaits when I just sit down. The tiny ribbon, just right on that sweet ornament. The sound of the bells on our kitchen door as it opens to home.

As much as I will relish my return to wellness, I have come to understand, too, that we move too fast, take on too much, and miss moments. It is too bad that it takes our own body calling "stop" to understand.