I’ve had three different experiences of not seeing what’s right in front of me. Three in a row makes me go, “Hmmm…”
The first time this happened, I was sitting on the patio of a local restaurant. Our waitress took our drink orders and we settled in to watch a musician do his thing on a small outside stage.
I noticed the musician’s stylish jeans, awesome shoes, and dapper vest. He had a fiddle, banjo, and guitar. He was also standing on a funny looking board, which turned out to be a beat board (a special board with a microphone in it). He had a good voice and we really enjoyed his tunes. All of these things I pretty much expected to see.
You know what I didn’t see, though, until Nelson leaned over to me and pointed it out?
A small dove was perched on the A/C unit just to the right of the musician. She was sitting on her nest, tucked in there, and it looked like she was really enjoying the music, too!
The very next day, I was sitting in my tiny living room working on my book. I was gazing out the window and noticing the grass, the trees, and how it was probably time to get out the weed-eater. It started sprinkling
and I was glad for the rain.
Something caught my attention – I realized my orange tabby cat Hobbes was tucked up under a small pine tree. I’d been looking directly at him for several minutes and didn’t see him until I saw him!
The third time (this weekend, Nelson and I were driving back from the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’d driven up to watch the sunset and brought our sleeping bags to enjoy a night away. Our new Sprinter Van hasn’t yet been converted in a
tiny mobile home, but it has plenty of floorspace to throw down some sleeping pads, bags, and pillows. Super comfy.
On our way home, we were talking about some of the features of the van. Nelson reached over to the center of the dashboard and hit a button.
“Click” — he locks the doors.
I look at him and went, “Ooooh…” See, I’ve been in the van a number of times and had noticed there was no way to lock the doors from the passenger side. It bothered me, thinking in an emergency I’d have reach allllll the way over to the driver’s side to lock or unlock the doors.
And all along, there’d been a button within easy reach. It just wasn’t where I “expected” it would be!
All of this “not seeing until I see it” is something for you to also ponder, gentle reader.
Sometimes it takes new eyes to really see new opportunities, answers, or solutions to problems.
Make some room,
Angie