~ Surprise ~

Isn’t it true? You are an exquisite, marvelous surprise.

I  wrote this note a few weeks ago, just after a delightful early-morning surprise. Come on, let me share my rooftop with you.

~*~*~
 
I’m full of happy after an extraordinary morning.
 
I started my day at 5am, laying on my rooftop, under the stars. I do this often. There had been some rain during the night and the rooftop was cool and damp. It was so still and quiet that I could hear the rhythm of the ocean’s waves.
 
Suddenly I had an unanticipated surprise. There was a brilliant streak of light. Moments later there was another.
 
Stars were shooting across the sky!  For the next hour I just watched as a dozen sparklers delighted me. A few took my breath away. The smaller ones still made me ohh and ahh. Each one made me smile.
 
Yes, I know those weren’t stars, they were meteors entering our atmosphere and turning into something like a firework. Still, to my joyful heart, this was magic. Later google tells me my morning started right at the peak of the Orionid meteor shower.
 
Usually, I pay attention to when meteor showers will be happening, and often make a plan for a stargazing date, but this time around the Orionids totally caught me by surprise.
 
I could not have planned it better! The joy of the moment would have been dulled by the planning and waiting and watching.  Surprise can be a marvelous thing. 
 
Since that morning I’ve been hanging out with surprise; and as life often does, “surprise” has been stalking me.  More unanticipated moments of delight have shown up.

And other people’s rich reflections have invited me to go a little deeper into myself. (Thank you, Lucy Hamel)

I’ve sifted through memories. It’s been like a treasure hunt inside myself as I’ve gathered long forgotten joyful surprises from the past.

You can plan a surprise for someone else, and that can be quite delicious.  But you can’t plan to be surprised.  Anyone who’s got wind of a surprise coming their way and then tried to fake surprise, knows the body jolt of genuine surprise can’t be manufactured. 
 
I’m left wondering, “how can I be an invitational presence to surprise, both in giving, but especially in receiving, surprise?”
 
On a walk, a glimmer catches my eye and I follow an impulse to turn. I’m surprised by the shimmery light streaming through the canopy of leaves.  I think the thin strip of light looks like fairy-dust being sprinkled on the surface of the creek.  I’m stopped in slow-motion and savor not only the sight, but the way my body is filled with a thrilling shimmer, too. 

I am reminded that I, just like you, are a surprise.

With surprise and love,
Sharon