Little miracles

This morning I woke up all grumpy. Well, downright depressed, actually. I could feel this sickening knot in my gut again. So I resorted to my new coping mechanism and decided to check on my terrace plants. If you’ve read “How is your inner garden?” you’ll know what that means: I was basically checking on myself. This morning a surprise awaited, though.

It had rained last night and hundreds, no thousands, of the most delicate water pearls lingered on the leaves of my bamboo, glittering peacefully in the sunshine. It was just breathtaking.

I got my phone out and snapped a few close-ups. It was amazing to see those tiny pieces of art magnified ten-fold. I increased them till they got all blurry. And that’s when I remembered that a year ago I got myself a macro lens for my DSLR.

Giving that I am a perfectionist I had planned on becoming perfect at working with it. What else? I had seen professional photographs taken with one of those, you know, these huge beautifully colored arthropod insect eyes. And raindrops, beautiful raindrops. I can do that, too!

It had, however, not taken me long to give up on it. I just couldn’t seem to get the settings right. And that’s not something I can deal with if it takes longer than, well, immediately. Never mind that great photographers are not born but made, by virtue of practice and patience.

Anyhow, I remembered my macro lens now, and my frustration. But I decided to let my excitement reign over perfectionism and just give it another shot. Well equipped I ventured outside and started experimenting. It took forever to figure out exposure and aperture by trial and error, but it was so worth the effort.

This is one of my favorite shots:

The raindrop harbors a lopsided mini version of my terrace view. If you look really, really closely you can make out the red-tiled castellated rooftop opposite, softly framed by bamboo. It looks gorgeous in real but even more so in miniature, encapsulated in pure liquid – a magic mini universe. One that just sat there silently, not caring about whether it would be noticed and marveled at, or not. It was just there. How miraculous… I was mesmerized.

I took a few more shots including some artsy ones in black and white. Two of them even made it into my flickr stream. But this is not what this all is about. It’s not about capturing the perfect shot. Far from it. It’s all about the magic of nature, the way it sucks you in, makes you stare at it in awe. If only you pay attention and take the time. And let it perform its wonders on you.

This morning, a little army of raindrops managed what I had not thought possible just minutes before: I was happy, I felt passionate about something, and I tremendously enjoyed myself. I forgot all about what bothered me, at least for a little while. I was just there. Like the little raindrop.

I went back inside with a spring in my step, fixed myself a wonderful breakfast and started the day.

me

Water pearl photo © myonelife.today

Feature photo © Pixabay

Water