Life's little gifts

I think people try so hard to maintain inner balance, spending thousands on things to "calm them down" or "make them happy". Life, for some seems to be a constant balancing act between striving for what is deemed  sensible or essential in ones life such as wealth and "just being me". And sure, it helps, it may even help alot to recieve a healthy paycheck, but if we can't look for the little things in life that make us happy, if we can't MAKE ourselves physically happy by simply being ourselves, is the other option really that great? Society has told you that money, a job, climbing the corporate ladder is the right thing to do and of course in many ways it is, but that shouldn't be the milestone in one's life where they decide they can now start being happy.

I smile at the newspaper lady at the robot every time I see her, she waves back, I wave back and no amount of remuneration, toys or items bought could make me feel as happy as she makes me feel in that brief second. A simple exchange, and the joy lasts all day. Because it is innocent and selfless and in the fast pace world and town of Johannesburg, a stranger smiling back at you is not a scene seen regularly (or at least apart from if a street vendor wants to sell you something and continuously points at your front tyre - so annoying).

I took some photos of the sky yesterday evening. I was walking to my flat on our property and as I rounded the corner the sky caught my eye, especially since it was offset against our black tile roof. Wonderful pinks, purples and blue. The clouds were making the most complex shapes and in one cloud the sun was caught inside, a beam of light escaping from its middle and it looked just so beautiful. - I was initially on my way to my room to go study and I did make it there but not to get my textbooks, but rather my Nikon.

I sat on the roof of my car and just took photos of the sky, it filled me with such a sense of peace and excitedness somehow that  I was taking pictures of something so beautifully simple and some thing that is ironically always right there. - I don't want to sound hippy and peace love, but that's how I felt. I think its a good thing to find happiness in the mundane. When you are going through hard times, work runs late, stress, lots of tests and assignments to hand in and study for, it's comforting to know that anything   can make you happy - if you let it, all the robots were green, your boss said he's happy you made the call, working hard and going to sleep early with a smile on your face. That's what "it's" all about, <3