“Many years ago I was walking with my son in the ‘big’ city of George Washington. In those days George was a sleepy town with a population of 112 and you were never more than a stone’s throw from the edge of town.
Well, as we strolled along, Troy's small hand in mine (he was about two and a half then), he stopped in the dusty lot we walked through and looked up at me. His little face had a huge smile of wonder upon it and he said, with some force, ‘Moo daddy, moo!’
He was so earnest in his explanation that I stooped down and asked what he meant (there wasn't, after all, any cow in sight).
He pointed to the sky with his free hand and repeated, ‘Moo daddy moo!’
Looking towards the noonday sky, I saw a big, beautiful, full moon and realized his excitement was about seeing a full "moo(n)" in the middle of the day.
I scooped Troy up in my arms and said, ‘Yes son, I see it too.’
The two of us stood there marveling at the sight of a full moon in the middle of the day!
I believe I was about 34 years old then, when, through the eyes of my child, I learned to see the world anew. How many times had I seen a full or even partial moon in the day and thought nothing of it? How many hours of my life had been spent looking without really seeing?
That was when I learned to stop and ‘smell the roses,’ to take my time, to look and listen.”
This story of my grandpa and his son really resonated with me. I had never thought about it much before, but the hours I spend contemplating this now may be nearing countless. Why don’t I take more time to “stop and smell the roses?”
As I’ve considered this question over the years and months following his recollection of that experience, I’ve realized some things.
The roses can be hard to find because life tends to try and bury them, or at least attempts to keep me moving too fast to see them
Sometimes I don’t want to see them; I think I’m too good to stop and give them their due recognition or believe it would be a waste of time
You and I are not alone in this struggle
They can be found
Thus, in an effort to find and appreciate these “roses,” and help you do the same, I’m writing this newsletter. I’ve never shared anything online through writing or social media before, so this is all quite new to me. I would love to hear from you guys, please feel free to share your thoughts!
I hope to grow a community here of fellow appreciators of “the roses;” a place for creatives, writers, or the average person to have their thoughts provoked a little, and to be encouraged to meditate on the beauty of life.
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
- Confucius
A Bit About Me
Hellaur. Bonjour. Good morning.
I’m Ben Mena. Generally, when I describe myself to someone, I tell them what I like to do, the things I’m passionate about, and my various hobbies; but truthfully, there are too many to be worth mentioning right now.
I am a senior in high school, and I basically don’t have any skills in math or science whatsoever, but I love writing. I love reading, especially older books. Aside from coffee (of course), the smell of a 100 or 200-year-old book is one of the most beautiful scents in the world.
Some things on my bucket list include living in Spain, learning to surf, getting a degree in English, becoming proficient enough at oil painting to make it a side hustle, and being fluent in Spanish, French, and maybe Italian.
I would love to have you along for this journey, so please subscribe and share! If you decide to change your mind, unsubscribing is super easy; no hard feelings. Be sure to leave comments and tell me a bit about yourself; I will try to read and respond to as many as possible.
Wishing you a lovely morning, day or night,
Ben
Music Recommendation:
Book recommendation: Knight Errant by Edna Lyall (available on Amazon)
A Youtuber I really like currently: https://www.youtube.com/@valerielin
P.S. Don’t forget to add me to safe senders and take this email out of any spam filters or promotions tabs it might have been thrown into. The email address this is coming from should be benmena.substack.com
Reading this reminded me of a song called Roses made by Mathew Parker. REALLY GOOD song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tZrTWwWlE4