Ordinary Things

"Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul."

John O'Donohue

Ordinary Things are just normal, everyday things. Things we use everyday, or things that we pass by on our way to somewhere else. Most often it is these Ordinary Things that we hold in our memories, that remind us of places we've called home and people we love. Ordinary Things embody inescapable beauty and grace. They are the things that make us feel alive. Pema Chodron says it takes guts to rejoice in the ordinary things. Each Tuesday, I post an image, poem, quote that celebrates an ordinary thing from my week. I invite you to join me in posting an Ordinary Thing from your week to your blog or flickr stream and leave a link in the comments section. A found treasure of inspiration, everyday good fortune, the key to your "warrior's world".

Do you remember...being a child with a nickle in your hand, standing in front of a gumball machine with the light shining in your face and all you could see were the gumballs? All those beautiful, bright, sweet, mouth-watering colors just waiting for you to put in your nickle and turn the handle. Which color would you get? Life is like a gumball machine. Filled with options and choices for you to make. What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? What makes you feel alive?

I saw this gumball machine in a cafe the other day and it took me back to my childhood. Visiting my grandma at her fabric store in a cute little downtown block. Grandma and I would walk down a few doors to a bakery to buy some bread. I was always distracted by the people walking on the sidewalk and the things in the windows of the shops and Grandma would tell me to keep up. The bakery had this same kind of gumball machine by the window. I so admired all those bright colors even as she told me that eating those gumballs would either break or rot my teeth. Across the street the train would come through, carrying it's logs and other cargo, blowing it's whistle and we would walk back to the shop, she with the bread and me happily munching on a cookie.

Until next week...