Remembering what really matters

Sometimes on this journey of life we forget the small stuff. We’re so busy doing other things that we forget to notice the things that really matter.

This morning I was reminded of this as I sat in my garden. I was drinking tea, and working on my computer when a leaf fell onto my lap. I stopped typing and picked up the leaf. I looked at it closely and smiled at the recollection of something ancient and wonderful that's imbued in a simple leaf.

I traced my fingers over the ‘tree’ in the leaf, the patterning of the tree, that is so cleverly embroidered into each and every leaf on each and every plant. Some leaves of course actually look like trees in miniature. I looked around me at all the other leaves on the surrounding bushes and shrubs, and marvelled at their ingenius, intricate designs, each differing slightly from the other, in both colour and pattern, like a thumb print.

I knew why this leaf had fallen onto my knee, at that moment. It was a reminder of what really matters, and it was telling me to reconnect with the natural world.

As we grow older we forget that this is a journey of discovery. We forget to bring adequate attention to the maybe small, yet significant, things in life, and to scrutinise all that really matters.

Sometimes it takes something precious to literally fall in your lap to wake you up.