Upon waking, as I walk into our cluttered living room, I am assaulted by unfinished tasks.

The dirty laundry: from the baby, from my athletic husband and from my exhausted self. The unwashed dishes of last night’s snacking are on the coffee table.

The projects that a well-meaning and ambitious self, started before the baby came, await my return on the desk. The rigors of keeping up appearance in daily life are overwhelming.

As I bend down to pick up a bowl, stained with the brilliant pinkish red juices of last night’s berry binge, the beauty of it strikes me. The abstract pattern of the pooling juices has dried into something sublime.

The beauty of this dirty dish, something that is usually a chore, has turned into a meditation. It’s a meditation on the simple beauty of life in unexpected moments. It’s the beauty of the whole fresh food that nourishes my family, body and soul. It’s a reminder that life is beautiful all of the time. I just need to slow down and savor it.

I still have laundry to do and dishes to wash and projects to finish, but it all seems lighter, easier. This new perspective, even if it is only fleeting, has lessened my burden. For the rest of the day, my vision is transformed.

The way that the candle light flickers on my altar, bouncing off of Ganesha and putting a twinkle in his eye is mesmerizing. The way the coffee ring has stained the counter is a thing of perfection. It makes me delight in the ordinary. My eyes are now open to the possibility of beauty, even in the most mundane.

I just need to slow down and savor it. Slow down and savor it. Slow down…

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Editor: Travis May

Photo: Author’s Own