Roots

I think we must lose ourselves now and again to find ourselves that much stronger, to know ourselves that much more. To have the ability come back to who we were made to be we must be in tune to the fact that we have forgotten who we were, and to come back to who we were made to be we must take the time to remember who that person was, and why. When we take the time to remember who that person was, we inevitably discover things that have been hidden, lost, or completely undiscovered yet. What a wonderful thing to peel back the things hiding us and find the core of ourselves, our heartbeat, our colors. Every time we lose ourselves, we come back a little bit brighter. When the winter melts off the trees and the leaves grow back we’re finally able to see what kind of trees surround us, what kind of leaves they grow.

Before a tree dies for the cold winter season they lose their leaves and leave them at base of their roots. Not an accident, I’m sure.

Find the dancing colors

I think our lives are dependent on beauty. Beauty means that things are living, growing, being noticed and taken care of. Ugly brings death. Beauty brings life. But lack of beauty has been evident in my life lately. Ugly has infiltrated itself into my life and blinded me from good things. Good things that bring joy, like looking out into the brisk mountain air through the window and seeing flurries of snow dance around the waving tree branches while I sit comfortably in a blanket of warm, peaceful air; letting the beauty of sounds, whispers, music, and every day voices be my soundtrack, my comfort, my home; allowing the scents of my surroundings bring me to a place of peace and excitement. Instead, I use my senses to drift me slowly into a nostalgia of days more sorrowful, more joyful, more familiar times rather than living in the reality of the moments I find myself in, feeling all the feelings my Lord has given me, and then thanking Him for the great gift of these senses.

Now I learn to take joy in the feeling of my soft blanket on my skin, engulfing me through the night and keeping me warm from the chilly mountain air, the sounds of my keyboard beneath my fingertips typing out my thoughts and tapping me into the reality of the beauty that surrounds me. I take joy in the thin, subtle smell of cold air, and the sight of the mountains at night when the moon is full, the snow-caps glow softly in the midst of the black sky. Lastly I bring myself back to the simple flavors of a good cup of coffee, or homemade bread, good whiskey, or a good ol’ stinky cheese. These things that once brought the colors to my happiness I have so quickly forgotten to notice.

Today I will notice, and I will soak in every color I can find. Colors make our eyes come alive. Colors mean the light is dancing, and God is Light. To notice the beauty is to notice God. He makes things beautiful. He made my life beautiful.