Philosopher Frederich Nietzsche once said, “How little suffices for happiness! The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the lightest thing, a lizards’s rustling, a breath, a wink, an eye glance—little maketh up the best happiness.”

It was in this rare moment of silence that he realized—it’s the littlest things that bring us closest to God.

Now, whether you prescribe to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism—there’s no mistaking, that something quite extraordinary greets us within these moments of stillness.

Oh, but how easily we are pulled away—with restlessness seizing our awareness, and throwing mindfulness into a cage.

In doing so, we end up missing those much smaller things. Like the canopy of trees, with bursts of gold and scarlet red. Or, those subtle hints of aster peppered amongst the green.

We miss what it means to be free—to love this life, just as it is.

In her book, Only This, poet Dorothy Hunt shares, “In this never-ending flow of life, there is an infinite array of choices. One alone brings happiness—to love what is.”

Indeed, to love what is. To pay attention with all senses, to take those tiny miracle in. To see the glory in an old dusted trail; to find adventure, to be compelled.

To see the miracle in those much simpler things—my darlings, this is what it means to be free.