to live, to learn

i was reading a touching piece on sophomore's page. an excerpt (having given due credit):

When was the last time you treated yourself to the luxury of a lazy evening lolling on some grass? Doing absolutely nothing, soaking in a fast dimming curtain of sunlight, feeling each blade of green as it pokes you, hearing a squirrel behind you, stretching yourself in utter abandonment.

these moments, when one has the time to indulge oneself in the little but oh, so special pleasures of life, are indeed rare. wait. are they not more meaningful because they are so rare? and if we took the time to stop and smell the flowers, as they say, daily - would they not lose some of their charm? i do not know really, because these moments in my life are rare. and very, very special. so i play devil's advocate. if there were no excruciating deadlines to spend our time working for, if there weren't only rare occasions when we could take the time to laugh with friends, would we still be able to maximize on the time spent doing just that?

when mum & dad were in bombay, we had an apartment with a generous view of the sea. every evening the sun would set (as it tends to do, generally), and the view was breath-taking. on my first visit, i would gaze at the sun setting over the vast, placid sea, every evening. on subsequent visits, i was not so taken. the sunset was just as magnificent, but taken for granted. just like in bonn, the glorious view of the chapel and the orchards from my bedroom window was taken for granted. just like so many other things.

by no means do i disagree, that in this life so full of care, one must take the time to stand and stare (r.l. stevenson). i only fear the taking for granted. when one keeps away from that evil, there is so much so beautiful, in this world around us. i think that was part of the point anyway. to learn to not take for granted. i think. to truly revel in the mundane little pleasures that life is so richly endowed with. and to not treat them as so mundane.

thinking aloud.