Over and over my life has been ‘saved’ by my ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. People who know me well will tell you that I often stop and point out something ordinary that brings me awe…the white clouds moving through the blue sky, the spiral in the centre of an echinacea flower, the cicada ‘singing’ in the summer heat, the luxurious taste of water. I seem to experience these simple occurrences for the very first time again and again.
This ability to see the divine in the mundane ‘saves’ me when my inner critic grinds my optimistic view of life to a sudden halt. Each of us has a critical voice as part of our inner repertoire. Mine tends to shout out boldly whenever I venture into new and exciting territory. This happens to be the very terrain that I walk every day as I ‘imagine’ my work through Welcome Home into life. Today as I was preparing this blog post I found myself with absolutely nothing of importance to say. My inner critic was having a hey day! I was frozen in my tracks.
Fortunately today it took only a slight shift in perspective to silence the voice of my critic and replace it with a sense of deep awe (see the video below).
How can you find the extraordinary in the ordinary of your life today? Look around and you’ll notice many things calling for a shift in your perspective.
Run the water in the sink, add the suds and really feel the slippery warmth.
Pour a glass of water and as you drink it, notice the pleasure of your thirst being quenched.
Light a candle and let yourself be wowed by the quality of the light and shadow.
Make a cup of tea and enjoy the pattern of the steam.
If you gaze at just about anything for long enough your view will expand to a perspective of appreciation.
Take a look at the fourth in my series of imperfect videos “A Rainbow in Your Hand”. It highlights the shift that can happen when you invite the extraordinary into your home through a sunny window.
8 Comments
I have an absolutely beautiful diamond shaped crystal hanging in my cottage window. Every day I marvel at the beauty of the colours… thank you for that!
We’re connected through our rainbows….how lovely, Anne.
I’m so glad you know this about yourself–that you have a gift for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. If all of us could do this, we would lift our vision to a new place, reduce our anxiety, and become more generous to each other. Thanks, Jovanna, for sharing your extraordinary gift with the world.
Thank you for your kind words, Shirley, and for your vision of our potential.
So beautiful, Jovanna. Thank you for such an authentic and inspiring words! 🙂
Jovanna,
I love receiving your beautiful gifts of wisdom, noticing, ceremony, presence, and more.
This post and video on a Rainbow in Your Hand particularly touched me in a very deep place, and I will check for rainbows coming in through my prisms, seeing them in new ways now, because of you.
Thank you so much for living into your authenticity and work in the world to bless us!
Love,
Joy
Thank you, Joy. Your words are a gift to me…
I, too, as I expect many, receive the gift of sudden appreciation and noticing of the magnificence all around us…..such a surprise and joy each time!. I am struck by your use of the prism – I’m going to get one! – as the vehicle for one of those gifts. I plan to use it in my practice of the intention of the buddha because it is such a lovely beauty to call forth with intention on a sunny day! It seems to fit with this Dedication of Benefits I received from a Soto Zen priest this week:
May the benefits of this practce
penetrate into each thing in all places
so that we and all beings
together realize the buddha way.
I love you!
Kate