Some things are just not apparent at first glance. You’ve got to look closely. Pay attention.  What do you see in the photograph above?  Blue-blue ocean. Rocky cliff. What else?

Did you see both squirrels?  I zoomed in on the shot, because even when I was standing in front of them, the squirrels blended into the background and were difficult to see. I stood at the cliff in LaJolla looking at the beautiful ocean, watching the people and the one squirrel that was moving around and evident. I almost missed the still, quiet one on the right, because I wasn’t paying enough attention.

So much of life is like that–we have to be awake and paying attention to see everything that is going on around us.  I don’t know about you, but thanks to information overload, sometimes I’m guilty of wearing blinders and ignoring what’s happening at the sidelines. It’s unfortunate, because it’s often some of the most interesting (and rewarding) parts of life.  That really quiet person at a party.  Clothes on a nearly hidden sales rack. The elderly neighbor you haven’t heard from in a while. The child holed up in her room.

I see people who intended to share a meal sitting at a table together but each busy tapping their smartphones, posting on social media, paying no attention to the world around them. Or even each other.  I know people in such a rush to knock things off their to-do list they lose the opportunity to really connect with a loved one.  There are so many parents who really mean to get to their child’s sporting event, but can never seem to leave the office to actually do it, and then are surprised when the child acts out later for attention.

In our busy-busy lives, there’s so much screaming for our attention we forget to stop and consider something that might be important just because it’s not obvious.  I wonder what would happen if we all stilled ourselves and really took in the entire panorama of life  in front of us. What would life be like?