Yesterday as I was walking and making photographs on a trail at French Regional Park I encountered a group of preschoolers out for a walk with 2 preschool teachers. One of the children, a bright, talkative, extrovert saw me making a photograph. And she asked me brightly,
What did you find?
My internal response was, “Out of the mouths of children one finds wisdom.” Their quest for endless discovery and bright sharp interest in the world makes them open to asking “what did you find?” with every expectation that I must have found something wonderful to be photographing it.
I wanted to tell her that I found beauty, everywhere I looked, but thought that she might want a more specific answer than that. So I told her about how I saw the tall green grasses swaying in the wind and I thought they were pretty so I made a photo of it. Then she wanted to see the photo so I showed it to her. I’m not sure she shared my wonder in the grasses I photographed, but she was fascinated with my camera.
Then we began the process of me making photographs of a few of the children, along with my turning the camera around so that they could see the photos I made on the camera’s screen. What joy I had taking a little timeout with these beautiful bright pre-schoolers!
This is what I found
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
―
The question, “What did you find?” stuck with me for the rest of my hike. It reminded me to treat life as a great adventure because you never know what you will find. If you have eyes that want to find beauty, you will find it! And if you have eyes that are open to seeing ordinary miracles you will see them.
May you walk in beauty.
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