The moniker of ‘Shasta daisy’ seems to have gone away in popular usage, but maybe it’s still in vogue in certain circles. I don’t recall the full Latin name of the chrysanthemum variety that comprises this clump of Shasta daisies, but that’s unimportant. Labels mean less and less these days. That’s a good evolution. For such a simple flower, this post already feels unnecessarily complicated. Let’s turn it back to simplicity, and the easy brush with happiness these sunny faces bring just by blooming, by existing, by simply being what they were meant to be.
What a powerful and easy concept when we let the universe take its course without force or exertion. Mindfulness is a practice that takes, well, practice. It’s tough to find at first, but the lesson is right there in these flowers. In the moment it takes to look at each bloom – at each petal and each sunny center – the rest of the world falls slightly away, the worries receding in the immediate brush with beauty. That’s the first spark of mindfulness. You might not even realize it when it happens: I had stopped to smell the roses my entire life, but never went much further. It’s the next step that leads you to the sublime.
