Anita Ojeda Perspective. It’s easy to lose it during troubled times. A drive through the desert restored my perspective. Maybe it will help you, too.
A Desert in Bloom
“This looks like the end of the road,” Pedro said. “I think I’ll back up and try the other one.”
The road had narrowed as it twisted around boulders, dipped into washes, and turned at sharp angles as it wended its way up the hillside. Pedro had to engage four-wheel drive to navigate.
“When you back up, can you stop at the intersection so I can take a photo?”
“Of course!”
For the past four hours he’d humored me every time I wanted to stop the vehicle to shoot photos of the gorgeous desert flowers. He backed up and I jumped out almost before the vehicle stopped moving. A road curved off to the right, and a profusion of lupine grew down the middle between the rocky tracks.
Perfect. I snapped photos with my phone, then pulled out my DSL and started getting closer and closer to the blooms. I swapped out my telephoto zoom lens for a macro lens, changing my perspective once again. As I wandered along the road, the warm air wafted the minty perfume of chia flowers each time I brushed against one.
I snapped with abandon and felt giddy with the joy of a desert in bloom. By the end of the day, I felt replete with beauty.
Perspective Changes Everything
A week later, I finally had time to sort through all my photos, and what I saw reminded me how perspective changes everything. No photo seemed to catch the stunning beauty of a carpet of flowers across the desert. But a few came close.
Each time I swapped out a lens, I changed the perspective of my shots. But until I sat at the computer and processed the photos, I couldn’t see everything. The tiny glistening part of the owl closer that hung above the yellow parts of the petals. Minute green bugs crawling across the petals of a colorful bloom. The garden within the fuchsia walls of a cactus blossom.
Perspective changes everything. People we see from afar become beautiful mysteries that glisten when we take time to get to know them. Good news sprouts green hope in troubled times. As we lean in to pandemic life, we rediscover the garden of our family within the walls of our homes.
Yes, perspective changes everything. What has it taught you this season?
Perspective changes everything. #persepctive #selfcare Click To Tweet
I guess the thing I really learned
in finding what I seek
is that nothing comes unearned,
and I don’t need to speak.
So the cancer closed my throat,
big deal, hip, hip, hooray!
My ol’ heart still gets a vote,
and I have found a way
to square this life with what I was,
and what I have become;
maybe it’s the end, or pause;
whatever, I’m still young,
and am gonna forge ahead
’till I’m healed, or ’till I’m dead.
Beautiful photos, and reading how you keep asking your husband to pull over so you can take pictures made me chuckle because I can so relate. Wish I had someone to drive me, but since I don’t, it’s me who keeps pulling over so I can get out of the car and take pictures of things that catch my eye.
He went on a crazy drive by himself that evening ;).
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This is absolutely beautiful! I love your pictures and your wise words.
The change in perspective this season has taught me how much I appreciate this slower pace, more family time, and less bustle. It has displayed the strength of my children as they love each other and serve the family with joy. It has taught us to cling to one another and to the Lord.
I think that opportunities for growth are everywhere–we just have to embrace them :). I’m so glad you and your family are learning and enjoying each other.
Anita Ojeda recently posted…How to Take Care of Yourself Physically During a Crisis
Lovely! And good illustration of how our perspective changes as we look at things! X
Thanks for stopping by, Fiona!
Anita Ojeda recently posted…How to Take Care of Yourself Physically During a Crisis
Beautiful post and pictures! I saw the desert for the first time last December when I went to visit my fiance and his family. It was a breathtaking and beautiful place!
Thanks for stopping by! We had a lot of rain this winter, thus making the flowers spectacular!
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I lived in Arizona for a few months. I had painful tendinitis in my ankles so I was unable to do any hiking. I loved the old very tall cacti that made me look like an insect in front of them but I never got to see anything as beautiful as these photos! Thank you for sharing!
Aww, I’m sorry you couldn’t get out much when you were here! It’s beautiful in the spring, isn’t it?
Anita Ojeda recently posted…How to Take Care of Yourself Physically During a Crisis
What gorgeous photos! I lived in the desert, temporarily, in Arizona. I loved the tall cacti that made me look tiny in front of them! I had painful tendinitis in my ankles so hiking was out of the question. What a totally different perspective of the desert you give us! Thank you for sharing these photos with us.
Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing this beauty and reminding us that all is a matter of perspective! We have always the choice of how to view and respond to things.
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You’re welcome :). I love finding beauty in unexpected places.
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These words were the exact words my heart needed today! I had been looking at some aspects of our current global situation from the wrong perspective . . . God really used your words to set my feet on the Rock of his perspective today, Anita! Thank you for this!!
I’m so glad! May God continue to encourage you as we go through these difficult times.
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Anita, great pictures and lovely words. During this time in near seclusion, I have rediscovered the garden of my family within the walls of our home. We’ve even been able to push out those walls, through the use of technology, to see family in their homes. Together while apart. It is a hidden gift of these odd circumstances.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the garden of your family! I, too, have had more time to FaceTime with our girls and ‘play trains’ with our grandson.
Anita Ojeda recently posted…How to Take Care of Yourself Physically During a Crisis
Gah, these photos are amazing! And the words, too. 🙂 I miss the desert and I miss you. Thank you for sharing!
Awww! I miss you! Summer’s coming :).
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Changes in perpsective… so true that sometimes we can’t see it until after the fact. visiting from #26 FMF
That old adage about hindsight being 20/20 is spot on, isn’t it? If only we made a habit of looking around us wide-eyed more often, eh?
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I love your analogies in this post of finding a garden within our own homes these days! And the photos accompany your words so well. I hope you’re doing well and catch lots of beauty despite the circumstances.
Love the way your words wove through your passion-nature. “Perspective changes everything. People we see from afar become beautiful mysteries that glisten when we take time to get to know them. Good news sprouts green hope in troubled times. As we lean in to pandemic life, we rediscover the garden of our family within the walls of our homes.” So beautiful!