It is always good to get a change of scenery. I’ve just returned from three days away from the regular rhythm of my life. It is strange how just being in a place that is unfamiliar can help boost your energy, open your eyes and help you refocus what is important,how you go about your living. It is very easy for me to rarely take the time to break up the normal pattern of my day. I can move through the work, family,home and ‘real’ life with very little variance only to find myself sometimes bruised and battered and often a little bored by the sameness of it all.

So, it is good to go to a place you’ve never been, into a neighborhood you don’t know well, even down a street that is unfamiliar.Observing others in their ‘real life’ somehow helps me see my own with added appreciation, wisdom.  When we do this we look with ‘new eyes’ at the world. We see things from our place of original wonder, innate curiosity. We become adventurers, explorers, ready to discover new things….about the place…about ourselves.  I have the notion, perhaps a romantic one, that many children still live this way.Certainly many of the artists I know live this way…each day is an adventure, a door that opens to…who knows what? Only walking into the sunlight will begin to uncover the answer to this daily miraculous question.

Most often, in the change of scenery,  we like what we see,……sometimes not so much. In both experiences there is learning. Perhaps we will return to this place again because here we found….peace…joy…beauty….freedom…..you can fill in the blank. A change of scenery is good for the soul and I am thankful to have walked in different paths if only for a short time. Now I can look at my days with the addition of those experiences to add spice and color and texture. Pure gift!

"Waking up this morning, I smile, Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."  Thich Nhat Hanh