Pause and Smell the Roses

 

It all started with a writing prompt.

Every Friday, I participate in #FP (Friday Phrases) on Twitter. A few weeks ago, the theme was “pause” and one of the tweets I wrote was this:

Press 'play', never 'stop'
The 'pause' button's for gazing
Finding shapes in clouds#haiku #FP

— Sarah Brentyn (@SarahBrentyn) September 25, 2015

This morning, I did pause. And was rewarded with red squirrels, grey squirrels, and chipmunks racing through bushes, chasing each other. Mourning doves cooed. Chickadees tweeted and blue jays squawked, fluttering from maples to pines.

I watched the clouds drift from brushstrokes into dragons and marveled at how the sky directly above the tree line is a watery blue which deepens in hue as your eyes travel upward—so subtle you’d miss it if you weren’t absorbed in its color.

I sat on my porch peeking between branches, at the ground, in the sky, dipping my finger in dew drops on our mini-pumpkins, all the while enjoying the intoxicating smell of my morning coffee and sipping the delicious brew.

I looked, listened, smelled, tasted, and touched. I used all my senses to appreciate the world around me. I didn’t stop. I paused. A minor distinction, perhaps, but a world of difference to me.

People are always saying I need to ‘stop’ when what I really needed was to ‘pause’.

 

My Sunday thoughts in 200 words or less.

When is the last time you paused? Took life in? Enjoyed the moment? Take a pause today, gentle readers.