Step On, Step Off

The window of a train is one of the most simple, yet wonderful things. A two hour train ride can feel endless when you're mindlessly awaiting your arrival. Or it can feel like an instant when you're staring at your laptop catching up on work. As a society, we tend to rush through life, never pausing to admire ourselves and our surroundings. When we accomplish something, we check it off and move on to the next box, as if our lives run on a never-ending checklist, the same ones we use as packing lists or grocery lists. Awareness is a privilege, admiring is a cleanse. Notice the little things, the way someone's eyes sparkle as they laugh, the way the sky changes shades like overlapping watercolors, first a pale orange, then adding hints of pinks and purples, eventually bringing in fiery reds to contrast from the turquoise blue of the ocean. Listen to the birds and their sing-song language, the different pitches and the time between each chirp, waiting for someone to answer them. Without interruption they communicate, a melody that does not exist in human interaction. Notice the patches of teddy-bear beige hay that are now being replaced by forest greens, the trees that reach towards the sky, blooming with pink petals and finger-like leaves. Notice the mismatched houses, each one different, as are we. Made brick by brick with calloused hands, stroked with red roofs and blue doors. Even without the sun, each item we see is filled with color, reflecting upon our eyes to portray an image. We are watching our own little movie, choosing what to notice and what to skip, each moment so precious because we can rush the present, run to the future, but never return to the past. Fill your soul with delicate words, those of love and strength, let melodies travel through your veins, and let your eyes wander the world the way we crave hands to wander upon our bodies. Let the rosy-red sky envelope you, lay fingertips upon the ocean's surface, each experience different than the next. Don't rush through life when you don't have to. Shut your eyes, breathe, and re-open with a new perspective. Let your mind take over; what we have is all that we need.