Beginning with the letter-A: Awareness

Awareness

I’ve stopped at the same light for years, waiting 3-minutes for a left turn arrow. Today the driver window was down, beautiful spring smells filled the air, the clickety-clack of the old V-8 pistons mesmerized me. Even though I’d sat serenely at the same exact spot before; this time, I looked to my left to a scrawny oak tree and saw it for the first time just 6 feet away. Around the trunk was a small wooden sign the size of a 4x5 index card, affixed with a striped, taffeta ribbon and painted robin's egg blue. On the dainty sign was written one simple word in a winsome fresh pink cursive. It's the word that can change the world by melting away fear, filling us with courage and hope: LOVE.

Hiding in plain sight was what I needed to hear that day, for real; however, had I not been aware and open to this tiny signal, my life would have been totally different. Awareness means the ability to Stop, Look, and Listen to the world in which one lives. It pumps fresh air into relationships and protects us from a number of maladies, pratfalls, and dead-ends.

Recently, certain words caught my attention. They either shine like new or keep turning-up like a dirty penny. These words resonate to me, they pique my curiosity, and they made me want to incrementally write them down on a tiny Post-it® note on my desk. 

As the list grew, I saw a thread tying them together: they begin with the letter “A,” and so I was destined to blog about them; even though they all have enticingly different meanings and significance. Now, in a semi-regular series, words beginning with the A-B-Cs will be the topic for my posts. As long as I stay aware of the words as they speak to me. Thank you for reading along.

Next post: Appreciation

©Mark H. Pillsbury