Rediscovering Wonder, Rediscovering Joy

Is it the time of year? The way the golden sunlight reflects off the brown, dry prairie and makes it look beautiful? Whatever it is, I was blissing out yesterday...

I was listening to an interview on CBC with Jane Goodall and I swear -- I could feel her marvel and joy at the world come through the radio and into my heart. :) :)

She talked about how each individual's small actions can have a profound effect. She related story after story of average, ordinary, run-of-the-mill people who decided to do something to protect an endangered species. It could be something small -- there was a black-footed ferret that was thought to be extinct until a rancher's dog killed one. The rancher tossed it aside; the rancher's wife, after hearing that the dog had killed something, went to investigate the little body...And so the ball got rolling.

What was so delightful was the intense positivity Jane Goodall emanated from her interview -- full of optimism, hope, and looking at the bright side of things. When she spoke about how all of our own small, individual actions cumulatively causes great change, I believed it -- I felt it. Nothing new here, I mean I've spouted off this kind of "Live in the moment, etc, diatribe before too," but something was different yesterday. There is a difference in talking the talk and walking the walk, I guess I'm trying to say.

She told of this type of beetle who lays eggs on their choice bit of carrion after they've buried it. Mom and Dad beetle dig an adjacent chamber and hunker down and wait for their babies to hatch. Once the babies hatch, both Mom and Dad chew up bits of carrion and feed it to their babies.

The REALLY neat thing was how Mom and Dad Beetle are covered in these little orange mites. Jane Goodall said how at first glance, one would almost feel sorry for these beetles being infested like a dog with fleas. But, appearances can be deceiving...

When Mom and Dad Beetle hunker down in the chamber and wait for their babies, the mites hop off the parents and eat all the fly larvae that is on the carrion -- cleaning the carrion for the beetle family's sole enjoyment. When all is said and done, the mites hop back on the parent's and move to the next stop.

What am I getting at here? Looking at the interconnectedness of things. Of how things are here, there, all around us -- lessons are right in front of us if we just care to look. Instead of questioning the obvious, searching the internet, and essentially looking to replace my own mind-set, this radio interview served as a reminder to savour my OWN experiences -- because by looking within, the *without* can fall into place around it.

The best advice I've received has echoed this inter-connectivity --

"Don't over-think it."

"KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid."

A good one I learned at the Penticton Ghetto Camp this year from Clint Lien: "Make your decision once and don't look back."

There is a deceptive simplicity in these statements -- a subtlety that hints at the gigantic realm of possibility that awaits those with an open heart... A moving forward with purpose: not muddling it up with doubt, second-guessing, or excuses.

It's like that commercial for cereal-- I forget what brand. It shows a guy surfing an impossibly humongous wave, and the text on the screen says, "Step 567, 983." Then it goes back to the guy eating a bowl of cereal and says, "Step 1."

I like this commercial. :) :)