by Ferida Wolff

 

I was reading an article in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer about Winnie-the-Pooh. I remember the Pooh books. Many nights were spent with my kids tucked in and cozy as we followed Christopher Robin and the adventures of Pooh Bear, Tigger, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and little Roo.

 

There is actually a place in the English countryside that was the birthplace of those wonderful stories by A.A. Milne, a magical place for him and his son. They found a spot in nature that allowed them to transcend the everyday and let their imaginations fly. Milne looked at the hillside, the bog, the trees, and the woods and found possibilities for stories and exciting explorations.

 

Nature is a source of pleasure for the senses. It often delights me with the brilliant colors of flowers, the beauty of its myriad birds, the rustling of fall leaves. We tend to think of nature as existing only outside but it has a way of engaging us no matter where we are.

 

Recently, I found a rainbow inside my house. The morning sunlight had come in through the pane on our front door, bounced off the beveled glass in the hall cabinet, and projected a rainbow onto the wall at just the position where I would see it as I came down the stairs. I gasped and felt my whole spirit open up. I immediately imagined fairies giggling behind me, a story in the making.

 

Finding the unexpected in the usual energizes us. It challenges our brains and helps us expand in creative ways. A rainbow is always arresting but having one inside the house was certainly a perception-teaser.

 

The rainbow on the wall didn’t last long but it set up all that was to come in a special light. I shared the experience with friends throughout the day and found that it elicited joy in others, as well. Was it a cosmic reminder to see the grandeur in the ordinary? To see it, perhaps, in ourselves?

 

Take a peek at Pooh corner: