This picture feels like a deep breath I did not know I needed.
The sky is wide,clear and honest.That one big cloud in the middle looks like it is carrying the weight of the whole day and still choosing to be soft.It is powerful and gentle at the same time.That is relatable.There are days when I also carry a lot and I still try to look calm on the outside.
Looking at that cloud,I remember that even heavy things are allowed to rise.
Sunflowers In Unfinished Places>
The sunflowers are the heart of this image.They are not in a perfect garden.They are growing next to construction,cars,and noise.Some are tall, some are bending and one is already tired.But all of them are yellow.All of them are facing the light.
That is what staying alive looks like.To grow even when the place is not made for you.To keep color even when the world around you is concrete.
I have felt like these flowers.Trying to bloom in the middle of mess.Trying to be soft when everything feels hard.
Beauty In The Middle Of Real Life>
This is not a staged photo.There is a taxi.There are pillars that are not finished.There are people walking past, probably with their own worries.
And yet the light falls on the petals. The cloud glows.The sky does not care that things are incomplete.It is beautiful anyway.That teaches me something whenever I look at this scene.We do not have to wait until life is perfect to be beautiful.We do not have to wait until we are "done" to matter.
As Charlie Chaplin said,
“You will never find rainbows if you are looking down.”This picture is asking me to look up.
The Feeling Of Being In Between>
Nothing in this picture is finished.The building is still being built.The cloud is still growing.The flowers are mid-bloom.The day is not over.That is where most of us live. In the middle.In the becoming.In the waiting.And that can be exhausting.But it can also be hopeful.Because being in the middle means there is still more to come.
When I look at this,I feel two things at once.Peace and a quiet push to keep going.The sky gives me peace.It is big enough for all my thoughts and it does not judge them.The sunflowers give me courage.They say,keep turning toward the light even if no one is watching.The cloud gives me permission.It is okay to be big,to take up space,to be both soft and strong.
This is not a perfect scene. But it is a real one.And real is better.
So I will keep growing here.In the dust,in the noise,in the ordinary.Just like these sunflowers.
