The Sun is Shining Down

These are my stories of finding joy in the mundane, love in the insignificant, peace in the simple, silence in the noise, and beauty in the little things

Abundant Sunshine

This is something we’ve been blessed to have as of late.  Mid March in Michigan has seemed like Mid July in Texas, which has been a real treat.  With the booming sun shining down comes an early bloom, as trees are budding and roses are starting to blossom, and it’s still winter!  

This further reminds us of nature’s beauty.  Spring is in the air, a time for new beginnings, new life, fresh grass, fresh smiles, and awe-inspiring thunderstorms.  It is going to happen sooner or later, and when it does, I highly recommend taking the time out to enjoy some night rain.  Open your windows, seclude yourself in your room, the garage, or on the porch, stop what you are doing, turn off your cell phone, close your eyes, and just listen to the beautiful simplicity of the falling nighttime rain.  It will help clear your mind, and will bring to that mind a great sense of joy and peace.  It’s one of my favorite things to do come summertime, but with this unusual Spring warmth, I’ll get to experience it all the more sooner.  And you should too!

Happiness is not something you acquire; love is not something you produce; love is not something you have; love is something that has you.

Winter’s Beauty: Simple yet Joyous

You know, this winter has been awfully springish.  At times I’ve had no complaints, as walking to class has been easier than expected, I don’t have to deal with the hassel of scraping my car off, etc.  But without any snow on the ground, winter is just plain boring.  Snow has got to be one of the most elegant and beautiful things of nature in this world.  And that’s saying something, because there are tons of things to compare to: flowing rivers, waterfalls, lightning, a summer morning dew, I could go on and on.  Nature is endless.  But last night I was walking home from the MSU vs UofM hockey game by myself in a blizzard essentially, and while I was very cold and my ears were frozen, I couldn’t help but take in this awesome phenomenon and the wonder and awe that snow creates, especially at night.  Night snow is the best, it’s one of the most peaceful, awe inspiring things.  But in walking those 2 miles by myself, trudging through the sidewalks (what a workout I might add), I was able to deeply appreciate the good rather than grumble about and be focused on the bad.  Yeah I was cold, and tired, but in the end, what really mattered was that I was able to find joy in being able to witness such great beauty, especially since we’ve had such little of it this year.  By switching your state of mind, and focusing on the good instead of the bad, you are able to raise your level awareness, absorb a peace of mind, and in turn, slowly begin to gain great appreciation for the littlest of things, including a delicate individual snowflake, let alone an entire snowstorm.  Now when The Sun is Shining Down on fallen snow, that’s taking beauty to a whole other level. 

Some of you might be wondering why my blog is titled “The Sun is Shining Down.”  Well, the reasoning has to do with a song that had a very significant impact on my life and helped me realize and find value in the little things in life we discover along the way.  Sometimes while walking to class I will see the sun shining down on me and on campus and just can’t help but let out a big smile.  Some people walking by me might be thinking to themselves and wondering why this crazy kid is smiling so happily but little do they know it’s in something so simple and perhaps so insignificant to them, but yet, so significant to me because I see something more out of it and find and appreciate the beauty of such a simple thing.    “The Sun is Shining Down” is the name of the song, by J.J. Grey and Mofro, and I heard it for the first time on my Kairos retreat my senior year in high school which was a pinnacle spiritual , emotional, and eye-opening experience for me.  It’s been since this retreat that I have opened my eyes to the beautiful and diverse world that surrounds me, that surrounds us, and that I have truly, started to LIVE.

Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.

—Thomas Merton

Pure

This song is one of my favorites.  Click on the “PURE” to hear it.  It’s the theme from the movie “Cider House Rules” and is what the “Pure Michigan” campaign fittingly adopted for their commercials.  Just take a minute, STOP from what you’re doing, and listen to it, and I guarantee you will be filled and enriched with a sense of inner peace, joy and relaxation.  Perhaps think about something that makes you feel happy, like a warm summer afternoon by the beach, an enjoyable conversation with a good friend, sitting by the fire on a cold winter night surrounded by family, for example.  The music reminds us of the pure beauty that can be found in the nature that surrounds us.  Everywhere.  And it’s an appreciation and knowledge of this very fact that can bring great joy.  Especially in a time of darkness, sadness, struggle, confusion, or fatigue.  But this isn’t something we can begin to feel and see unless we take a minute to unwind completely from the doing that consumes us.  Give it a try.  And enjoy.

Stop. And listen.

Life is a an emotional ride with no clear finish line, filled with twists and turns, joys and disappointments, ups and downs, successes and failures.  Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of whether you’re coming or going, and in the end you don’t really know where you’re going or how long the ride is going to last.  That’s a lot of ambiguity to live with.  But sometimes it’s that very ambiguity and unknown that helps us to really, truly live.  Sometimes it goes too fast and we want it to slow down.  The difficulty lies in finding ways to achieve this.  The beauty lies in what we find once it’s achieved.  It’s not a race to the finish, so why do we constantly live our lives in a hurry like it is? 

Along the way, it seems as though we are constantly doing.  We are ALWAYS doing something.  It seems, we always HAVE to be DOING something.  We crave it.  It keeps us going, sometimes sane, and and helps avoid monotony.  But sometimes it’s important to take a break from the doing and just STOP.  For a moment.  Or two.  In silence. And just listen. And just think.  And just watch.   Sometimes it’s beyond important, it’s necessary.  And you’d be surprised the things you’ll get to hear, and learn, and see.  About yourself, about life, about others, and about the world.  There are a lot of things that we miss out on in life because of our constant doing.  Many of these things cannot be sought, but instead they must be found.  They find us.  But we have to be open them in order for that to happen.  We won’t even know they exist until we experience them.  We can experience them though, if we slow down every once in a while and see and feel the world through silence.  They are beautiful things, simple things, revelations in a sense, many of which we disregard but are unable to see and find because of the constant commotion that consumes our lives.  In the last few years I’ve started living a whole new way.  And it’s brought me far more peace, love, joy and laughter than I could have possibly imagined.  My goal is to share with you my stories and personal experiences of living in this whole new light, and spread the joy that can be found in the mundane, the love that can be seen and felt in the insignificant, the peace that can be grasped in the simple, the silence that can be heard in the noise, and the sheer beauty that can be discovered in the little things in life, throughout the world.  The little things.  They’re what make life worth living.  So STOP.  And LISTEN.