As you can imagine, when I looked out the window on this gray day, I didn’t feel like there would be much inspiration for awe to be found. I am a bit awed by the mystery of fog, but I could see that from my window.
It was my god-daughter that actually got me out for a walk even though it was a bit misty outside. She never wants to go outside or take a walk so, in the surprise of her request, I agreed without even really thinking about it.
I expected to see more gray as I continued to explore this gray day. I anticipated something like this:
To further my surprise, I was reminded that sometimes on a gray day the colors actually pop and are even more awesome than usual. This is what I actually saw:
I continued on my way and found many more colorful displays on the way. I felt so thankful for the Fall flowers and especially the bright whites and the heart shapes spreading their message of love.
I found this plant unwinding after a long summer. I was filled with wonder as I considered all that takes place automatically as the seasons change. This one kind of matched my hair in this humidity.
Then came the spider webs. The first ones were interesting to admire. Once I saw how many there were I felt so small. We were just two people and there were hundreds of them. If it weren’t for the mist in the air, they all would have carried on undetected. There is so much that we don’t notice as we hustle and bustle about our daily lives. When we do slow down and notice, some of these wonders stretch our own comprehension of our universe.
As I felt the wetness on my shoes. I stopped to stoop and inspect the wet grass. More bright green color and awe in the droplets and another web.
Reflecting on Awe
Awe did its job on this gray day. The feelings took over gray thoughts and brought a bright reality to light. There is so much more going on in the world, our grumbles and stumbles at the moment are just that, a moment. They are not everything. We can always look outside of ourselves to something that is shining at the same moment we think darkness is closing in around us. Take an awe walk.
Thanks for reading. I hope everyone embraces the light and feelings of awe that are around them even when they think it’s a gray day.
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Here is a poem I wrote on Medium about another awe-inspiring gray day.