[2020-10-09] Profoundly beautiful
Today's entry in A Year of Positive Thinking is about seeing your surroundings with the eyes of a tourist. "Imagine everything around you as if it were the very first time you've ever seen it."
So my daughter and I gave it a go on a quick walk she likes to take for a 10-minute break from her workday.
As I've mentioned before, we have a tranquil path that runs behind our house, with a small forest on one side and backyards on the other. While on the path, I put the idea to Melanie.
"Imagine that we were new to Ottawa and staying in an Airbnb, and we walked out and discovered this cute little path."
"And what if this were the first time we were in a country with four seasons?" she added.
"And we would find all these cold-weather clothes—such as coats, hats and gloves—precisely in our sizes that we could use to enjoy the world outside our door," I chimed in.
It made our walk wondrous and joyful. The colours of the trees were breathtaking—red and gold and deep green. The air was fresh and cool, but no match for a down coat, wool hat and leather gloves. The smell of cedar was deep and satisfying.
I was reminded of Paris in April, 10 years ago. I was mesmerized by that city. I adored gazing at the Eiffel Tower, especially from inside any building that afforded a view of the majestic structure. Everything was new and beautiful to behold.
We can capture that feeling of newness no matter where we find ourselves this Thanksgiving weekend (and, let's face it, most if us will be at home). As A Year of Positive Thinking says, "Everything can be miraculous."
The excitement, laughter, joy, and love. The beauty in every detail. The nuance of the colors and the play of shadows and light. The breathtaking views of the city or the rural landscape, the cracks in the sidewalks, the trees and the individual blades of grass, the sunshine and rain.
I have so much to be thankful for this year. Yes, I know that 2020 brought the two Cs (COVID and cancer), but it also brought a third C: caring. I have never felt more loved than I have in the past three months.
Yesterday morning, for example, a dear friend dropped off homemade chicken noodle soup and ham. And yesterday afternoon, I received a hamper full of goodies from my regional employees, with gifts particular to each part of the country. A sandalwood and lavender candle from a Vancouver studio. A puzzle of original art by Fort McMurray artist Russell Thomas. Dark chocolate-covered Saskatoon berries. A novel (The Break) by award-winning Métis author Katherena Vermette of Winnipeg. A novel (The End of Her) by best-selling author Shari Lapena of Toronto and a puzzle of the city. A selection of products from Quebec: blueberry-rhubarb jam from Lac Saint-Jean (special to me because Chris hails from that region), mustard from l'Île d'Orléans and handmade soap from Montreal. A gorgeous East Coast Lifestyle hoodie from Halifax. A personalized Jenesis face mask and some unicorn glitter for superpowers from Ottawa.
Receiving these and many other gifts from my regional staff gave me a feeling of being a tourist across this great country. These are exactly the kinds of things I would have bought to bring home as a remembrance of a wonderful trip.
The passage in A Year of Positive Thinking ends with this: "Shifting to the perspective of a wide-eyed tourist morphs the ordinary into the extraordinary and reminds you that, for all its challenges, life is still profoundly beautiful."
On this Thanksgiving weekend, I hope that you can all find the profoundly beautiful in your life.
