Visually Alex: recongnizing beauty

-all of these photos are from 2011, and were taken with my dslr-

This post is about taking beauty for granted, especially if it's just the simplest things in life. I'm assuming that at least 90% of the world is caught up in the whirl-wind of rush and stress in life. Picture it has tiny hurricanes placed all around us. If your mind is just like the motion of the hurricane, and you rapidly get sucked into it, then you'll be completely oblivious to everything around you. You're view will become dizzy with school and work and friends and phones What some people (even me sometimes) forget is that all of us should notice the dew drops on the grass, and snowflakes on the leaves. It's really important to breath, and appreciate the small things, because it may also make you more grateful for life in general--as it did to me. God created this world, and everything in it. Big or small, it's here for a reason: for us to cherish and admire the crafted beauty that came directly from amazing hands. We need to notice these things, and push ourselves out of the hurricane.

A few years ago when I had no clue that I was going to pursue a hobby like photography, I'd just say something to myself like, "oh it's just a pretty flower, whatever."

Or maybe instead of capturing the vibrant color of blueberries, I'd pop them in my mouth instead. Of course (yummy) blueberries are meant for eating, but I didn't really pay much attention to what was going in my mouth...

Even insects. I'm sure a vast majority amount of people hate bugs and think they're gross and creepy. In my opinion, some of them are, but there are probably more than a gazillion bugs around us, and we don't notice more than half of them.

I've realized that a vast majority of parts in my life, my eyes were physically open, but spiritually closed at times. Focusing more on the evident issues and the internet, rather than take a step back, and glance at the little beautiful things that make me happy. I used to rarely recognize them. It's like I was wearing contacts...but without having better vision, my focus was engrossed on busy reality, instead of the simple things in life. Beauty is everywhere around us, it's always been here, and it pains me to think that I would walk right past it.