Wonder of Wonders — A Normal Day! A Practice Invitation

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want more than all the world your return. And then I will know what now I am guessing: that you are, indeed, a common rock and not a jewel, but that a common rock made of the very mass substance of the earth in all its strength and plenty puts a gem to shame.“
~ Mary Jean Irion

Those of us reading this invitation woke up this morning and were handed a treasure. Dawn arose from the darkness draped in warm and wondrous hues, even for those of us who missed witnessing its stunning arrival. We opened our eyes and a staggeringly intricate synchronicity of exchanges and cues conspired to bring us a comprehensible image of the room in which we fell asleep a few hours earlier.

And this was just the beginning!

Our apparently “normal” days are replete with wonders that go unseen, unnoticed, unappreciated, and uncelebrated. But each moment offers a fresh opportunity to awaken to the miracle of our days — to begin to truly notice, marvel at, and treasure what lies before us, around us, and within us.

Let us embark on several days of practice with this way of experiencing the world, for in doing so, we train ourselves to more frequently delight in and begin to honor the unique, transient, and priceless treasure that each dawn brings.

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”
~Henry David Thoreau

Photo by Rudy and Peter Skitterians