Be Aware of the Beauty All Around You

I have been temporarily displaced in a portion of the country that is totally foreign to me. The culture is different, the environment and scenery are different, and the weather is different. At first, it was okay, because it was different.

But slowly day by day, week by week, depression started to sink in. I missed trees and green grass. I had the misfortune of leaving my previous home just as spring started. Three or four purple tulips had popped up in my front yard. Lily of the valley was blooming everywhere. The dogwoods were an umbrella of white. The azalea bushes were starting to bloom the morning that I left.

I missed looking out my windows and watching the colorful jaybirds, robins, and cardinals returning to their home, my home, for the summer. I missed listening to them singing every morning from my kitchen window. I missed hearing the wind chimes jingling gently in the breeze. I missed watching all of the squirrels playing in the evening in my back yard. I won't get to see the roses in bloom or smell the honeysuckle or the wisteria this summer. And I'm actually crying as I write this just thinking about it.

Yes, my previous home was a beautiful place to be. And most places aren't as pretty by comparison, I admit that. But the change of scenery has been so drastic. Now I'm in a tiny apartment. When I look out the (only) front window, I see a brick wall and a parking lot. Dust blows everywhere, not a blade of grass in sight. There are these ugly, prickly, cacti about ten feet tall in the parking lot. They look like huge sticker bushes to me.

So the depression has gradually gotten deeper and deeper. I've been trying to change my mindset. I know that's most of the battle. To say it has been difficult would be an understatement.

Guess what happened a few days ago? On a particularly bad day, I had gotten into the truck for a quick trip to the grocery store. I hate the grocery store, so my mood was even more foul. As I sat at the stop sign just one block from the apartment, I looked up. I was staring at a magnificent mountain in the distance. It was beautiful. It made me smile. I made the left turn toward the store, and there was another majestic mountain! On the way back, right before turning into the parking lot by my front door, yet another beautiful view was off in the distance. All I have to do is open my front door, walk a few feet, look past the giant sticker bushes, and there it is- anytime I want to look at it. Yes, it's still dusty, there is still no grass or trees or flowers. But I have my own magnificent mountain sitting right outside my front door.

Don't dwell on the negative. There is beauty all around you, no matter where you live. And I'm going to buy wind chimes that I can hear gently jingling in the wind.