Notice how the light dances between the leaves, creating patterns that have never existed before this moment
We walk past a thousand miracles every day without seeing them. But sometimes, if we're lucky, something catches our eye and stops us in our tracks. For me, it was the way sunlight was filtering through the canopy above, casting dappled shadows that shifted and swayed across the forest floor.
I found myself frozen mid-step, watching this dance of light and shadow. Each pattern was entirely new, never seen before by any human eye. The breeze moved the leaves ever so slightly, and the light responded, creating an endless series of unique moments, each one disappearing as quickly as it formed.
It struck me then - how many of these fleeting displays had I walked past, lost in thoughts about tomorrow's meetings or yesterday's conversations? How many perfect, unrepeatable moments of beauty had slipped by while my eyes were fixed on my phone screen or lost in the middle distance of worry?
The forest offers these gifts constantly. Light playing through leaves. Morning mist curling between tree trunks. Dewdrops catching the dawn just so. Each one is both ordinary and extraordinary - common enough to be easily overlooked, yet unique enough to never happen quite the same way again.
When we slow down enough to notice these moments, we step into a different kind of time. Our rushing thoughts quiet. Our eyes soften. We become witnesses to the small miracles that surround us - not just observers, but participants in the unfolding beauty of now.
That's what the forest teaches us, if we let it - how to see with fresh eyes. How to notice the extraordinary in the ordinary. How to catch the light as it dances, knowing that this particular dance, this specific pattern, this exact moment will never come again.
And perhaps that's enough - to pause, to witness, to really see what's in front of us. To remember that in a world that often feels repetitive and routine, we are surrounded by moments that have never happened before and will never happen again.
