Coneflowers and goldfinches: They have been bringing me a lot of happiness this summer.
We have a rain garden in our front yard, which my husband planted a couple of years ago.
And it has been in full bloom this summer.
All photos in the post are by Shelly P. Johnson.
It has a lot of different plants in it, many of which are coneflowers.
Coneflowers attract goldfinches, and so we often see four or five of them flitting about in our garden throughout the day.
So, I love stopping by our front window periodically to look at the goldfinches zooming around and nesting on our coneflowers.
Drawing and Painting by Shelly P. Johnson
It’s such a little thing to watch goldfinches, but it makes me so happy.
So, I was thinking the other day about other beautiful things going on in the world that bring me so much joy.
Here are just a few of them:
Stepping outside in the morning and watching a gorgeous sunrise.
Going for a walk and listening to the different bird songs I can hear around me.
Watching my garden grow and change throughout the summer.
Eating raspberries off the bushes in my back yard.
Noticing the different kinds of flowers the bloom in Spring in summer.
Watching the way the world changes with the seasons.
Becoming familiar with the different kinds of trees in my local park.
Looking for turtles sitting on logs in a pond in my local park.
And watching rabbits play and rest in my back yard.
Or watching butterflies rest on flowers.
Because I get so much joy from things like this, the other day I was thinking about how there are so many miracles that go on around us outside all the time.
And tuning into them can bring us a great deal of peace and happiness, as well as strengthen our mental health.
You can read more about this here: 3 Ways Getting Outside Into Nature Improves Your Mental Health.
Now, I know that there are a lot of difficult things happening in the world right now. And I know sometimes it is important to think about those things to see if we can help in any way.
But, even though there are hard things in the world, I want to encourage you to remember all the beautiful things around you as well.
In fact, remembering and noticing those beautiful things can strengthen us to better deal with hard things.
And I promise you that right now, wherever you are in the world, there is something fantastic and miraculous happening in the natural world around you.
So, consider going on a brief walk outside.
Or consider visiting your local park and practice noting one or two things you find beautiful, curious, strange, or wonderful.
Nature blooms and blazes and shines and sparkles for us every day. And we come alive when we notice it. We start to bloom, blaze, shine, and sparkle, too.
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You might also like this post: How Nature Makes Us More Human
You might also like these whimsical watercolors:
About Dreams and the Watermelon Faerie
Happy Snail’s Magic Motto
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