I was walking down the street feeling blue. I’m not sure why I was feeling morose or maybe I’m absolutely positive as to the reason but it doesn’t matter in this telling.

Scene:

It was bright and sunny but I was wasn’t feeling it. I had errands to do and my mind was in shattered pieces while I raced from one location to the other as if I were being timed. I wasn’t able to string two thoughts together and only my “to do” list, etched in concrete and tied to a chain around my neck, was keeping me from floating into the stratosphere but it was growing lighter as I finished each task.

I was absolutely aware of the black cloud that was hovering over my head just waiting for the moment that my mind was no longer preoccupied with a distracting list. I was dreading the last task for that very reason.

Angrily and numbly, I walked along the sidewalk, purposely ignoring people and sounds that followed my every step in this busy city. I zigzagged though the crowd, as always, looking for the shortest distance between two points. I could feel that my face was hard and hostile as I moved to one side to let someone moving in the opposite direction pass on the narrow path.

As I waited, I glared down at the ground and this flower smiled up at me:

Time stood still and I took the gift of this moment to take a picture of the flower that destroyed a cloud.

I smiled back at it and, for the fraction of a breath, considered taking my colorful savior home. Instead I left it and hoped that it would have the same effect on someone else.

Keep paying it forward, little bud!

Update: I went back to the place this little guy lives — a hopping pub with great food: Ireland’s Four Courts in Arlington, VA. Thank you the gracious manager for indulging in my silly request and allowing me to pick some seed pods from the plant. It is my hope to grow a direct descendent of the plant that saved my sanity.