As a child my imagination took me to all sorts of interesting places, and my curiosity about the world was always through the lens of amazement. I still do find life enchanting, in spite of the depravities, degradations and destructive forces which are much evident on our planet.

My school teachers taught me to be aspirational about life, not in terms of material success or social status, but in the love of learning, the pleasure in beauty, and the joy of creation and contributing to something bigger than ourselves.

I’ve been going through old notebooks from my teenage years, and have come across cards and quotes and misty eyed photographs. One in particular brought a smile and a warmth, not only in the message, but in the memory of the small shop where I had bought the card on my way home from school. It’s a quote from Louisa May Alcott, who was a favourite author in my youth.

I still have aspirations. I’m still climbing the ladder of mastery. Still seeing the beautiful in the everyday. This week it was a statue of an angel, and the gracious service of an elderly Portuguese waiter at a restaurant in the Douro Valley.

Life becomes more tender as we age, or perhaps we treat it more tenderly because we are aware of how swiftly it flies. Pilgrims that we are - divine beings in our mission robes - we always have choices about how we see the world. I’m choosing to see ‘La vie en rose.’ And it’s an amazing view. 🌹