What do you see when strolling along the streets in South Side downtown Pittsburgh on a rainy day? Do you see the many different storefronts decorated in everything from 50’s to modern day memorabilia? Do you see the cars jammed bumper to bumper on the streets? Do you see the faces of the people passing you by? Do you see the colors of the coats and hats that people are wearing? What do you see? I’ll bet one thing. I’ll bet you don’t see what I see!

We are each so individual in our thoughts and levels of creativity that no two of us are alike. We are unique in our personalities and daily activities. Our likes and dislikes are often worlds apart. You like homemade ice cream on a snowy day to remind you of summertime. I like homemade soup to take away the chills of the winter. You like modern art. I like folk art. You like the ballet. I like the modern dance. See what I’m saying? All of these things add to what we see. We see what we like to see. We see what we’re programmed to see. We see the things that we’re used to seeing. Is that good or bad? Hmmm……let’s see.

I’m what I call a universal see-er. I very rarely can tell you the details of anything. I know when the sky is blue, but I can’t recall details like what kind of clouds that were in the sky, the shade of blue, the size of the clouds, if they were clustered, if there was a rainbow, or if the sky had streaks of blue or was solid blue. I can’t tell you those details, but I can tell you how I feel when I see something.

Some people are detailed see-ers. (I think I just invented a new word!) They can tell you things such as the sky was aqua blue at noon, sea green blue at one, cobalt blue, cyan blue, steel blue, tiffany blue, and dark blue at the end of the day. They can tell you when the clouds appeared, what they were called, when they disappeared. They can even tell you the approximate size of the clouds in the sky on any given day! And, they no doubt can also tell you how seeing each of those details made them feel. Interesting stuff, isn’t it?

What do you see? Do you see what I see? I took the picture in this blog of my son and daughter for the sole purpose of documenting our fun day spent in Pittsburgh. I wan’t interested in any of the details at that moment other than capturing two of my children that I love in this photo. Now that I’m studying it more closely, though, I can see all kinds of details like the traffic light, the size of the pavement blocks, the kinds of cars people are driving, the color of the umbrella Alex is holding, the lawn chairs on the sidewalk, the manhole, and even the sprinkling of rain falling on the umbrella. WOW! There’s no end to what I can see when I really look!

So, what’s all of this mean? Well, do you see what I see? I sure hope not! You see what is meaningful and special to you just as I see what is meaningful and special to me. And, that is the beauty of life! We each have the ability to see a million and one different shades of a rose. We each have the gift of seeing countless levels of beauty in a piece of artwork. We each have the wonderful blessing of seeing unending details of love in the soul of a person. The possibilities of what we see in any one object, person, or event are never-ending!

Life is exciting! What we see each and every day is exciting! We should never find ourselves bored or feeling like a day has been wasted. Every day is a new and exciting package of miracles just waiting to be opened and viewed by me and you! Let’s do it! Do you see what I see? Well, I do see one thing in this picture……I see a coat that I wish I had bought for myself rather than for Alex! I really like that color of blue!

Love,

Clara