And just breathe in the beauty.
We live in a busy world. A world full of stress and worry, where the ticking of the clock constantly pounds in everyone’s heads. But just stop, and take a moment to inhale all the goodness around you, and to exhale all your anxieties.
I live in Korea, and the culture here is especially busy and worrisome. Everyone’s running to catch the bus, talking on the cell phone as they walk, pushing and shoving, honking for a second of delay.
It’s amazing how fast we speed-walk past everything. I’m a high-school student, and I’m already brimming with worries and regrets. But not too long ago, I noticed how beautiful everything around me was. When I went to Hong Kong, my aunts, my mother, and I were awed by the lights and the beautiful architecture of the city. And when we returned, we realized how ignorant we were to the beauty that was closest to us. Like Hong Kong, Korea is also full of architecture with unique and aesthetic designs. We just didn’t take the time to look.
And a few days ago, on my way to school, I was shoving my breakfast into my mouth as I was studying for a test in the car (unfortunately, I fell asleep the night before doing my homework). There was a lot of traffic, the car shifted from side to side, I was spilling crumbs, looking for something to drink, and mumbling vocabulary words to myself.
Then, I looked up.
For a split-second, time froze. It took my breath away. The rich autumn colors were blazing. The ripe trees, the clear sky, the shining sun. It was brilliant. How was I so ignorant to be too busy to look up? We are blind to the simple riches of life, the joy of living.
To think, that such a simple act of nature could be so amazing. The trees, preparing for winter, therefore prohibit the continuous synthesis of chlorophyll, the green pigment, inside chloroplasts. This causes the leaves to transform into such bright and colorful ornaments. The trees are basically preventing any more nutrients from seeping out into the leaves so that it can save energy for the long, cold winter. For more information about its chemistry, take a look at this site.
It’s amazing how beautifully trees are able to wither away, with power and elegance. What a grand and graceful way of descending into bareness.
I want to become a tree.
To grow and grow beautifully. And as a senior in high school, my winter is approaching, but I want to graduate and finish with brilliance before I become a naked and bare freshman in college.
We shouldn’t fear time and be reluctant to grow up, to accomplish, but rather, embrace the opportunities. We are all capable of brilliance, but it’s a matter of whether or not we take the time to breathe, to think, to appreciate, and to enjoy.
Just look around, and it’ll make you smile. (:
Photo by morols on flickr
Technorati Tags: kisaplit, kisaplit07, autumn, color, time
13 comments
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November 4, 2007 at 6:36 am
cburell
(Shana, call me a perfectionist. Tarski’s designers replied with a code-hack that’s supposed to fix the comment bug, so I’m going to copy and paste all the comments that “buggily” went to the wrong post here, and link to their commenters inside the comments. Then we’ll see if the fix worked.)
Beautiful post. For some reason I’m thinking of the “Fosterisms” from How to Read Literature Like a Professor after reading this. The symbolic resonance of seasons with human life is so sadly easy, as you write, to lose touch with. Until - bam - you look up from your busyness and get gobsmacked by a moment of natural grace.
This is some fine writing.
I’m going to follow that chemistry link now. Is it really worth looking at? We’ll see
(And if you check your Sitemeter’s “out clicks,” you’ll see that I clicked on that link. So wild, this world.)
November 4, 2007 at 6:37 am
cburell
This one is from Christian Long:
As I hinted at in a blog post I wrote this morning (thanks to the inspiration of reading this piece of yours), you’ve posed a striking question for all of us (regardless of age or experience). Well written. Keep up the journey of ideas!
Cheers from the LoneStar State (in the U.S.) -
Christian
November 4, 2007 at 6:41 am
diane
Shana,
Your posting reminded me of two of my own posts about Autumn in upstate New York:
http://dmcordell.blogspot.com/2007/10/in-october.html
http://dmcordell.blogspot.com/2007/10/nothing-gold-can-stay.html
But your voice is fresher, more eloquent; an original. Your “winter” is just a time to rest and gather strength. Your “naked” spirit will burst into bloom more quickly than you can imagine.
I hope we will be able to share some of this glorious adventure with you through your blogging.
Fare well!
diane
November 4, 2007 at 6:42 am
Clay Burell
Shana, FYI, I sent a support request to the Tarski theme designers asking them to help us fix your bug - have you noticed the comments for posts turn up on the wrong posts? Weird. So we’ll problem-solve
Stay tuned.
(I checked your sitemeter: have you seen all the places that have read your “Time” post?)
November 4, 2007 at 6:43 am
Shana
Hello and thank you Christian and Diane (or would you prefer that I address you by your surnames, Mr.Long and Miss…?) for your support. I’m still new at this so I really appreciate your encouragement. (:
Thank you Mr. Burell for emailing Tarski.
So it wasn’t just my computer that was weird. I was trying to check all the options and fiddle with the site, but I obviously didn’t succeed…
And YES! I’ve checked sitemeter and my cluster map! It’s all really exciting! (:
November 4, 2007 at 6:46 am
Clay Burell
Good. The code-hack worked (and this hacking stuff is what I’m teaching Christina K. for our Project Global Cooling website
)
Happy days.
November 4, 2007 at 11:07 am
Carolyn Foote
Shana,
Just reading your post made me relax! Thank you for the beautiful visions.
We just finished hosting student panels at our high school to hear from our students about their experiences at our school.
One thing I heard reflected from them as well, is the stress, incredible homework load, and fast pace of their lives.
I wonder how it is we forget childhood and the notion of allowing our children to have one?
You are very wise to recall to take a deep breath, to look up, and to reflect.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us
Carolyn
November 4, 2007 at 12:09 pm
diane
Shana,
Since we’re interacting as blogging colleagues, please call me Diane.
Korea is out of my continental US frame of reference: do you experience four seasons, as we in upstate New York do?
Autumn is my favorite season, but some years it is brief, at best. Even my favorite clothing colors are autumnal - brown, rust, cranberry, forest green. November quotes and November photos are more somber. Soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving here, which is a nice, family-centered holiday, then the madness and mayhem (for some) of Christmas and New Year’s.
The wheel of time is turning and we need to appreciate all phases of its cycle. Bu† I do so love Autumn!
November 4, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Shana
Diane, Korea does have four seasons, but unfortunately, fall is very short.
I used to live in Southern California before so I’ve never experienced much other than bright sunshine. I do miss the California sun sometimes, but autumn here is really blowing me away.
November 6, 2007 at 1:58 am
Jieun
Thanks for the comment Shana. You’re post is beautiful and it seems to be more so because I can relate myself to the same situation.
These days, you can see it in the faces of most of the seniors–the stress, worries, and frustration. Not all, but most.
Its amazing how some people deal with these stress though. Sometimes I feel like I can do the same, get over all the frustrations in my life and rise on top of all the problems, but other times it feels like going away to some far away farm, as you’ve mentioned, could be the best thing.
But, through blogging and communicating with others, I’m starting to find ways to release the clump of frustration within me. I guess it’s a step towards growing up and preparing myself to enter the ‘real’ world.
We should sort of slow down and look around at what’s going in our world instead of gluing our eyes on our AP textbooks. I mean, in the end, the main reason we’re so focused on our “AP’s” and school work is to prepare ourselves for the real world right?
November 27, 2007 at 5:15 am
HeavyGod
Really good and really interesting post. I expect (and other readers maybe :)) new useful posts from you!
Good luck and successes in blogging!
November 28, 2007 at 3:02 pm
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December 18, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Weber
Dig the blog a LOT!
Nice style and I like the way you discuss the tracks. I’m going to book mark it.