It Takes Time

Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time. ---Georgia O'Keeffe

We're in the throes of planning for our Dream Assignment, and everyday in between phone calls and meetings and researching leads to stories of hope around the world, all I can think of is this quote and the tiny field full of buttercups staring back at me from the other side of the driveway out my backdoor.

It takes time, a still quiet voice tells me from the deepest place inside.

Time?? my monkey mind chatters. I want to hop on a plane now!

But my beginner's mind knows better.  For every prize winning rose bush and sensational lead, there is a meadow of buttercups and a hopeful story waiting to be unearthed. A story as simple and as certain as a buttercup in May.  A deep and honest story that can only be seen when I make time to really pay attention to what's happening around me.  When I'm willing to stop.  When I'm willing to listen.

Breathe, my better self advises.  Everyday things are coming together, little by little--exactly as they should.

And so I walk to the grassy knoll on the other side of the driveway, and gather up my yellow treasures in a little bouquet, each one reminding me that hope endures, that it can be seen in the smallest ways, in the tiniest places, if I have the courage to let the stories come to me, one simple yellow flower at a time.

What are you waiting for today?  Show us what you're taking the time to see right now as you look through that hope-full lens.

Comments

[Life in Eden]

I'm waiting to find out WHERE we will be moving to (my husband has been interviewing all over for his next job) -- it has been a seemingly endless process. This seems like it will be THE week. But yesterday was a rare cloudy morning here in So Cal, so I took the chance to take some photos with different light. I'm trying to remember to breathe!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32837589@N07/3527977521/

[Barrie]

I have a tree peony in my garden. It struggles every year to put out its three to five gorgeous blooms. They are white and don't last long, especially with the rain we get here in Portland in the spring. I nearly missed seeing them this year. On Friday I made a point of taking my camera out just to spend time with that one wonderful plant. This was the result. http://barrieb.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/a-keeper/

[Debbie]

Thanks for the reminder to pause and look around. So quick to forget, so great to remember. Debbie

[djbeat]

i was actually looking forward to the fields of mini daisies this year

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbeat/3462787897/

[Shawna]

i'm so excited about your hope project!

today i'm waiting for sunbreaks for moments like these:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28479290@N05/3528148552/

few places on earth parallel the pacific nw for appreciation of 5 minutes sunshine between clouds...

[djbeat]

oh & pink rain

http://365daysofdifferent.blogspot.com/

[Linda Jacobs]

Took one of my classes outside today and we saw these:

http://garlinjake.blogspot.com/2009/05/armed-with-cameras.html

[jag]

Beautiful, thoughtful post...

Yesterday, I saw new light, thanks to the absence of a shed/garage that has neighboured our yard ever since we moved here. What a de-light!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jagspace/3529899266/in/set-72157606064294651/
xox

[roxie]

Spring is beautiful.

[jody]

Hey Jen you were my prompt to get my behind out in the buttercups today =)

Just thought you might want to see..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodyangel/3529253091/

[claudia]

I was thinking along the same lines today, it takes time, it doesn't just happen.
http://gnubee.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/mindfulness-in-seeing/

And here's one from my first 24hrs with my new DSLR, that I kept hoping for, yay!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/3523017402/

[Liz]

i turned around and happened to see this in my bedroom mirror...just me, against my bookshelf. from an anatomist's point of view, the lines of the body are art. :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilybeth29/3529540543/

[Liz]

oh, and i prowl my garden constantly; i moved in in november, so every new blossom is a discovery, and i try to nose through the yard at least once a week in pursuit of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilybeth29/3495035251/

[shelley]

dearest jen,
I love this passage...
we all need reassurance from time to time...

You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars
you have a right to be here
and whether or not it is clear to you
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should..
Godspeed, shelley

[Beatriz Kim]

For the first time in my life, I took time to see Spring unfolding before my eyes. Normally, the seasons pass quickly and I may have only one or two chances to see the trees and flowers bloom. I let my job be the single most important thing in my life. I have missed a lot.

However, due to illness, I became disabled. Now it makes me sweat with exhaustion to take about 20 pictures! Although that doesn't sound good, this "disability" helped me re-discover photography and painting. These two activities has helped me to notice the little things. I find joy in the smallest improvements in my health and I may be able to make ART my new career.

I always wanted to go into art, but I was too afraid! I didn't believe in myself, but now through Flickr and blogging, I'm getting the encouragement I need to take the plunge into the arts.

So I present you, my most awarded photo thus far!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbybeatriz/3527135789/

Thank you to everyone who has viewed my photographs from this site! I appreciate it!

[maz]

I saw buttercups too!
http://divingforpearls.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/watching-buttercups-cup-the-light.html

[DawnS]

This morning my mother and I watched & waited ever so patiently for the petals of this iris to slowly and gently unfurl themselves. My mom was talking to the iris and encouraging it to open up and greet the beautiful day (and yes...she's perfectly sane)!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilac-girl/3536577086/

(hope the link works)

[randiman]

a great photography well done