Japanese Oak

080507, originally uploaded by Erica the Ninja.

I have been going a million miles an hour for the past couple of weeks. I have been training Aikido almost every day, working a bunch, getting home really late and exhausted and not sleeping very well. I am kind of grumpy and out of it right now, but I still feel like I have TONS of energy. Don't ask me why.

Today I was really feeling like it was a chore to take a picture. I mean, I get up, go to work, go to Aikido, go home. There are only so many pictures you can take of your cats. With a broken camera. Seriously. But then, I looked up and this Japanese oak was just calling my name. It was weird. It was just begging me to take a picture. So I did. And you know what? It was beautiful. I had no idea whether the picture would actually turn out, but my day felt instantly brighter. It sounds dumb, but this stupid tree told me to stop and pay attention, to not rush by like I do every other day out of the week, to open my eyes to the things that I tend to ignore. To let life in.

Life is not a chore.