Every moment that’s ever been or ever will be, is gone the instant it’s begun. So life is loss. And the secret to happiness is to learn to love the moment more than you mourn the loss.
“Emily,” as quoted in What Happy People Know:
How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better
These are my favorite flowers in our yard. They are so very tiny and delicate; at full bloom they are maybe the size of a dime. They bloom for a week at most, and each year I wait for that perfect moment to photograph them. Some years I miss it because I wasn’t paying attention. Some years I wait in vain, because rain will come or the deer will eat the branches or the conditions will otherwise not be ideal for photography.
Even if I do get a nice, sunny day to take the photographs, sometimes I will download an afternoon’s worth of work to find that my hands just weren’t steady enough, or a barely noticeable breeze was enough to soften the focus.
Sometimes I get lucky and I get a handful of shots that make me immeasurable happy. They tide me over until next year.
Sometimes I decide that what I have is good enough. One of those shots I made into the banner for this website, and it makes me smile every time I log on.
Is it the flowers that I love so much, or the challenge of the right time, the right conditions, the hours of work to produce a satisfying result?
Does it matter?
As Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Applicable to the fleeting nature of tiny flowers… and pretty much everything else in this world.
Sigh… they’ll never be this age again.
What do you look forward to, year to year? What is guaranteed to put a smile on your face?
Veronica Lee says
Awesome pics!!
Hi! Stopping by from MBC. Love your blog.
Have a nice day!