Smash365: Appreciation

Dec 14, 2011 by

The following poem was written by Quach Thoai, a young poet in Vietnam:

Standing quietly by the fence,

you smile your wondrous smile.

Surprised, I remain speechless.

I hear you sing a song

that began I know not when.

I bow deeply.

Is this a poem written to a young woman or man? A friend? A stranger? This poem was written to none of these. It was written to a common flower called a dahlia. This poet took the time to stop,  see the beauty in a single flower, and appreciate it. Respect it. Bow deeply to it.

Take a few minutes today and stop. Stop the worrying about the holidays and the shopping. Stop all of the craziness of your day. Just stop. Then, look deeply at the ordinary flowers in your life. See their beauty. Appreciate them. Capture their beauty in words, either in poem or prose.

Stop. Appreciate. Treasure. Hold on to this appreciation, this new-found treasure, and keep it closely as you resume your day. Know that such beauty surrounds you always, in all ways.

Dear Reader: Want to share your response to this prompt? Leave a link or comment below, or join the discussion on Twitter and Facebook. Even if you don’t want to share your actual response, we’d love to hear your thoughts about your creative habits.

Take the Pledge.

Rus VanWestervelt is a writer, photographer, owner of Ravenwater Press, and Teacher-Consultant with the National Writing Project. He is the founder and editor of Maryland Voices, a creative nonfiction journal for high school writers and educators. Rus has published hundreds of articles locally and nationally, and nearly all of them relate to writing and living an inspired life. His latest work of fiction, Cold Rock, was just released December 9, 2011 and can now be purchased at ravenwater.com. For more information about Rus and his work with writers, you can visit his website here.

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  1. Dawn Herring
    December 14, 2011

    Rus,
    This Prompt struck a positive energy spot in me; taking time to appreciate the ‘flowers’ in our lives is vitally important to our mindset, overall health and well being. Our journals are the perfect place to bring attention to those wonderful things we often overlook. When we make it a practice to write them down, we become even more aware of our ‘flower’ moments each day, so we have even more to write down!

    I have chosen your post, Smash365: Appreciation, for the #JournalChat Pick of the Day on 12/14/11 for all things journaling on Twitter.
    I will post a link on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, my blog and website Refresh with Dawn Herring, and in Refresh Journal, my weekly e-journal:http://www.refreshwithdawnherring.blogspot.com/ .

    You’re welcome to join us for #JournalChat Live on Thursdays at 5 EST/2 PST for all things journaling on Twitter; tomorrow’s topic is Journaling to Heal: Body and Soul.

    Thanks again for this fabulous focus on appreciation in our journals.

    Be refreshed,
    Dawn Herring
    JournalWriter Freelance
    Host of #JournalChat Live and Links Edition on Twitter

    Reply

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