My dear friend Katie gifted me a book titled “Happy Little Accidents, the Wit and Wisdom of Bob Ross”.  Bob was not only a great artist, animal activist, service member, husband and father…. he was an extremely intelligent and insightful man.  I will be sharing some of his wit and wisdom on this forum because I think it is a reminder for us.  We need to just stop.  To reflect.  To think.  To feel. To evaluate.

“If painting teaches you nothing else, it’ll teach you to appreciate some of the beauty that’s around us every day that we take for granted.” – Bob Ross

If we are so busy, so consumed in work, obligations or commitments that life throws at us, that we do not see and appreciate the beauty, the gifts that God gives us each and everyday….. then we NEED to stop!  We need to stop and absorb it like a sponge – everything that is around us and be thankful we can stop and enjoy it.  Be thankful that it is was freely given to us.

When you paint, and you break down the object, you see how amazing it is.  Take a tree for example.  Trees are down right beautiful.  The most amazing creation.  Trees are so beautiful that Joyce Kilmer,  an American writer and poet, who is mainly remembered for his short poem titled “Trees”, which was published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914, wrote a poem about a tree:

Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
If you are an extremely busy person, please do this following exercise….. take 20 minutes, grab your favorite beverage, (NO PHONE – NO LAPTOP – NO TABLET), just you and your drink… grab a chair, find a tree and sit.  Quietly.  Listen to the wind whistling through the leaves.  Listen and watch the birds that are playing and living in the tree.  Look at its branches reaching upward.  Look how it reaches up towards the heavens.  Feel on your skin how it cools and shades you…giving you relief from the sun.  Really appreciate the gift of a tree.
Take time to enjoy nature….. don’t let it pass you by!
Peace my friends!