Take a few minutes to watch this amazing video.
There are rich lessons to be learned....
1. Close up images of what seem common can be very beautiful. The artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, understood this and it worked beautifully for her. (See some of her paintings below). Could there be some art inspiration here for you too?
2. Take time to breathe and notice all the little miracles that occur each day in nature, right under our noses. Spend some time with your garden. I have a hummingbird that visits my hanging basket daily and I relish those moments when I see him. All else stops as I experience gratitude for the beauty and sweetness of that flitting bird.
3. Things do not happen overnight. This video is time lapsed. The strawberry does not ripen before it's time. The flower petals cannot be forced open early. This goes for your creative endeavors too! It's easy to get impatient and want to produce beautiful images immediately, but your skill set may not be developed to that level yet. Maybe you are a pianist that can't get past chopsticks or poet who struggles with words. Continue to learn and grow and understand that it takes time to pollinate your life. There is beauty and joy in the very act of pollination. Cherish the hope that the good work that has begun in you will continue.
4. Things that we view as scary and pests, are really beautiful when they are fulfilling their purpose. Yes, a bee sting or a rabid bat in our hair are definitely things that we would like to avoid, but look how beautiful they are in their natural environment. There may be some gifts in your life right now that are masked as trials. Surely none of us wants to experience a dread illness or a painful divorce, however there are people who believe that those very things brought the start of new life to them. Certainly we don't seek out pain and don't welcome it when it comes, but use the trial as an opportunity for gratitude and understanding that while things may seem dark and hard, there is a grace that is occurring under the surface that will bring forth beauty in time if we don't despair.
5. Sometimes it takes someone outside of you to see your beauty. The artist who made this movie knew there was something beautiful beneath the mundane and drew in to take a closer look. The bees don't understand their purpose, they just do what they are genetically programmed to do. The flowers are made to bloom but they neither have a will or a mind. They bloom for the soul purpose of the enjoyment of others and to give the birds and the insects what they need from them. I'm not a scientist, nor do I really want to understand the workings of nature (as evidenced by my science grades in school), but what I DO know is that sometimes we get so caught up in the every day things that we do, that we don't really see the beauty of who we are and what we are adding to the world. When our beauty is disguised from us we may not perceive our value to others. Every one of you plays an important part in the world around you. Every one of you is a beautiful, unique individual made by a loving God with purpose and value.
Next time you swat at a bee or reach for a juicy strawberry remember these beautiful life truths!
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