News From The Beach from Pug At The Beach: Miracles

News From The Beach

Zen healing from Pug, an island dog philosopher

News From The Beach from Pug At The Beach: Miracles

Miracles

The sense of smell is a powerful thing capable of traversing decades to bring to the forefront memories of long ago.

Lately, here in South Florida, where December’s temperatures are reminiscent of late spring in New England, I’ve gotten a whiff of times, nearly 25 years ago, when I was a student at a small, private college far away from the place I now call home. A converted estate of one of the 20th century’s wealthiest men, the campus sat on the banks of a river and part of my yearly springtime ritual was playing hooky on the first warm spring day.

I’d take the day to sit by the water’s edge embracing the many olfactory delights: the smell of moist soil sprouting vegetation, breezes carrying the scent of budding trees and blooming flowers, and, of course, the aroma of the moving water, rich with its own blend of fragrances.

These days when I ride my bike around my town or over to the beach, I'm greeted with the scent of flowers. Last night a gentle breeze carried gardenia through my kitchen window. These scents have thrown off my internal smell-o-meter. It feels like spring to me right now and I find myself relating to springtime feelings and practices where Christmas normally resides.

Spring is a time of rebirth, of hope, and of possibilities beyond our wildest imaginations. Because I’m a little turned around with regard to seasons, I got to thinking…why can’t everyday, every season, be a time of rebirth, hope and possibility?

But how to do that? It’s simple really. Look for the smallest thing in your day and see the wonder and joy in it.

On my daily beach walks it’s common to find shells rather large in size. They’re easy to spot from a distance. Finding the smaller shells require more effort and determination.

Paper Nautilus shell found on Delray Beach.

The other day I found patches of beach covered with shell hash and within those millions of whole shells and fragments of shells I found these two; one perfect and the other perfect in its final design – a creation of another sea creature’s burrowing.

Shell hash on Sanibel Island. Auger shells.

In this small success lay (!) my motivation to continue. Finding one perfect shell was followed by another interesting find and another and another. That’s the way it is with success. One small accomplishment leads to another and another until one day life as a whole is one big success.

That’s the way lives are fashioned; successes going unnoticed until the accumulated whole takes shape. Just like shell hash on the beach. Or found treasures gathered together on an office desk.

Shell collection. Found treasures from the beach.

So here’s my wish for you: play hooky today even if it’s only for a few moments. Take inventory of your physical surroundings, inside or out, look for and find one small thing that is stunningly beautiful. Then examine that beautiful find and see in it the miracle of how it came to be. Think, really think about its origin and what physical and spiritual forces combined to create your newly found treasure. After that, apply those principles to your own life. What circumstances conspired to bring you to where you are today, in this moment? Step back, and see how many small miracles created your life on many different levels. You’ve come this far, you can go further. You can create miracles in your life. All you have to do is stop and look for those small shells, those small successes in the midst of all the others.

From the banks of an island river to the shores of Delray Beach, Florida, here’s wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season!

<*(((><

This piece was previously posted in December, 2008.
Copyright 2008 Diana Taylor, Pug At The Beach

Spread the joy of Pug At The Beach. Mindfully forward this to those who might need or enjoy it.

Pug At The Beach ~ Where mindful living meets artful play through the adventures of a small island dog philosopher named Pug. He’s part Dalai Lama, part Jimmy Buffett and a whole lotta fun.

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and in Delray Beach, Florida, USA.

Subscribe to Pugisms ~ Tidbits of Zen wisdom from Pug, the island dog philosopher.

Autographed copies now available.

Jennifer Thompson of Monkey C Media had this to say about Pug At The Beach:

"I have really enjoyed reading your book and meeting Pug too!! I love the feel of your book, the paper, the stories, and the small pieces of quiet wisdom. The thing about this book, is that it's not overbearing, it's a happy nudge about reflecting on what's good in life."

For more information on using or buying Diana's photos visit: