Beauty and Gratitude In Simplicity

There’s a bittersweet feeling in the air for me as the Summer makes its gradual evolution into Autumn each year. The beach days are fewer and further between. The daylight hours get a little shorter. There are premature crisp leaves starting to accumulate in the corners of my neighbors’ driveways.

But each year at this time, the delight of beginning each day walking into the kitchen with the windows open sparks joy within. The ability to smell the fresh dewy air makes me feel like I’m on vacation at a cabin in the woods somewhere. The scent of sap from the pine trees behind our house dances with what I only know to call as the “back-to-school” morning smell. Then once the coffee pot starts, the aromas marry and it’s like a little piece of heaven on Earth.

Mornings sound more beautiful this time of year, at least to me. The electric hum of air conditioner units calms, and the quieter air carries the sounds of morning doves and other critters further. The footsteps of neighbors’ shoes on sidewalks create a rhythmic, steady pace. Squirrels run down the sides of tree bark and scratch at the ground for acorns.

As I become more aware of the scents and moments I’m experiencing, my mind expands beyond the bounds of my home and Earth to a repetitive realization, that we are all merely fragments of cosmic dust on yet another journey around the Sun. I try to imagine Earth’s place in the solar system and find love and admiration for the forces of gravity and other pulls that allow our existence here within the universe.

I’m grateful for these otherwise simple moments each year as I get older. They’re reminders that the simple and routine are indeed completely beautiful. It’s good to be reminded of things like this. I believe finding peace, gratitude, and love in moments like these are fundamental to being human; to be alive. Enjoying the simple makes me feel full, and makes my soul vibrant.

As humans (especially in America), it’s easy to get caught up in what culture deems as most important. Things we are told growing up like “work hard so you can have bigger houses, more possessions, clothes, and cars” or whatever physical, manmade item it may be. To me, possessions and physical things spark happiness for only short bursts of time. I believe making space for the simple is what leads to fulfillment.

Today, I encourage you to make space for the simple. Take a moment to clutch your cup of coffee in your hands and experience the warmth from the heat transferring to your body (speaking of, I’m also very thankful I never actually needed to take heat transfer, as cool as the physics of it may be). Feel the air graze your skin and be thankful for your body and all of its complex systems and functions within.

Tomorrow is never promised, and these moments are fleeting in the time we are given here on our beautiful planet.

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