Photo A Day: Window

I love houses with lots of windows. I love light and sunshine and a view of the outdoors. So I love that my kitchen not only has a double window over the sink, but it also has one wall that’s nearly completely taken up with sliding glass doors that open onto the porch. In the morning, the sun streams in and I love to watch the birds hopping along the porch rail. It brightens my morning and helps me get going.

I also love hanging a few items that catch the sun (and help make sure no birds crash into the window). I’ve had crystals and small suncatchers over the years, but a few years ago I received a lovely stained glass circle of birds and flowers that now hangs on the sliders. 

In the summer, I can see colorful flowers and plantings and green grass through the sliders, but in the winter, the view of the faded paint and flagstones on the porch, the neighbor’s (lovely) gray house, and the snowy yard are distinctly lacking in color. Having my bright little blue jay, cardinal, and goldfinch adding their bright, cheery colors, glowing in the sunlight, adds a lovely splash of color to the whole world.

And isn’t it funny how one little touch of brightness and color can create such a complete transformation? Amidst a cheerless, tired, gray view, that little circle of color gives the impression of cheerfulness, liveliness, and light.

In the same way, there are many actions we can do that seem small and simple and unimportant but that can change someone’s outlook entirely, bringing color and cheer into what may be a very dreary, gray time for them. It could be as simple as smiling at a passing stranger, shoveling a neighbor’s walkway, dropping a quarter in an expired parking meter, holding open a door, paying for the coffee of the person behind you at the drive through. Or it could be something that takes a bit more effort or sacrifice, like offering vacation time to a sick colleague, covering a car payment for an unemployed friend, driving a neighbor to the airport. But wouldn’t the world be a nicer place if we all looked for little things we could do for each other to bring that little bit of light and color into each other’s lives? 

Go ahead, be the color in someone’s window.

Window.