Such Sweet Simplicity

This summer is a blur. From wedding preparations to working thirteen hour days I do not know where the last few months have gone. As I hurry through each day I too often forget to enjoy simplicity. This has been said many times before but discovering it for yourself is completely different then hearing a warning from an author or parent. "Slow down."

I am like my mom is so many ways. I continue to discover daily how much I am like her. Recently she turned what use to my brother's den into a quiet reading room. She painted, cleaned, and is decorating this sweet hideaway in our home. I've fallen-in-love with my quiet hours spent in this room. Although they are few and far between I really do enjoy the simplicity of sitting in silence with a book or journal. No music. No internet. Not even a cellphone. I crave excitement yet long for solitude. I am thankful for my mom and our similarities. she created a safe haven for herself that ended up blessing me. I'd post pictures of the room but I'm selfish and want to keep it to myself.

{I took the above pictures in the U District on my way to work this last spring. Instead of rushing by neighborhood filled with blossoming cherry trees as I had done so many other times that week I paused just for a moment to take some pictures. The shots I got were so worth the tiny bit of trouble it took to slow down and pull over.}

In high school I was ridiculous and decided to cover my walls with my favorite quotes, poems, songs, and passages. One specific poem I had on that wall stands out in my mind. It's a reflection of not only how sappy I am but also my overuse of chain mail. I received this poem via myspace {hangs head in shame} and of course 'passed it on'. Enjoy.

Have you ever watched kids

on a merry-go-round

Or listened to the rain

slapping on the ground

Ever followed a butterflies erratic flight

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Do you run through each day

on the fly

When you ask "How are you?"

do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow

And in your haste,

not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

'Cause you never had time

to call and say "Hi"?

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift

Throw away

Life not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over

Ah, yes it's sappy and silly. It holds so much truth. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic and childish at the moment but the moments pass by all too quickly. I sat with my parents watching Hogan's Heroes tonight. I love sitting with them. The hours went by all too fast. I savored just being in their presence. Such sweet simplicity.

-Shanna