Leaves, Moments, and Standing in the Sunlight

https://www.marklearydesigns.com/shop/p/shadowbloom

On moments

“But what if I want it to last forever?” asked bird.

“Perhaps we just start with now and see what happens?” replied bear.

…
📷: Shadowbloom
…

I was stopped in traffic yesterday when I saw her.

I didn’t notice her at first.

She was standing against a whitewashed brick wall, hints of graffiti here and there, trash at her feet.

Again, I didn’t notice any of this until she moved.

And that’s because she was standing deep in fall shadow.

That daytime inky gray, moody, dark-stained cloud-smeared skies, trees that were all fire colors just a few days ago, moping and cold, now mostly bare.

Then, it happened.

She took a step to the left.

A single step. But it was everything.

I didn’t see her lift her head up from whatever she was doing on her phone when she took that step.

But I did see her smile.

And that made me smile.

A single step to the left.

A single step and she moved from darkness to light, into a single ray of sunshine cutting through cloud and cold and disinterest and pain.

A single ray of sunshine striking an entirely ordinary Portland wall at 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday.

And she stepped into it, and smiled.

That light moved on before mine even turned green, ephemera defined yet again.

And yet, she stepped, we smiled, and the darkness returned.

Where can you consciously choose to step and smile today, even if for the briefest of moments?