It was time to go through everything and consider what to do next in the room that was being emptied.

I took time to look at each piece of paper and small items that had been piled onto shelves. 

These shelves were deep, anchored into the side and back walls with screws and then smoothed over with paint to end our last project completely. 

Who was I to dismantle what had been so carefully created? 

Well, who else but me, as I had actually been the one to stack all of the papers and treasures there in the first place! 

Seems a bit ironic that it now was time to clear it up, sharpen the edges and create again. 

This one paper was there to say that my eyes were opened.

It was as if this one paper was there to say, with clarity, that my eyes were opened and going through each item was going to be the point I needed. 

What I didn’t know I needed was what came next. 

If you take a moment with me to see the colors, you will also see the exactness that came from this page. 

It’s actually art. 

Do you see the purple at the top that became the shock of hair? 

Open your eyes to see the spot of red in the middle right where the mouth is and then some brown around the eyes so you can see they look into your soul. 

That is the joy of this page and this art. 

If you are paying attention, you’ll also see that there is another point to be made. 

Having eyes wide open is the reason to be here.

Having eyes wide open is the reason to be here. 

With you and for me. 

It’s actually what I learned when I took time to go through every little thing on the shelves that were attached to the walls. 

What I also found is what I had lost. 

The time to sit back and pay attention to details. 

It’s where I found being mindful of what was right in front of me came to me from this artist. 

The artist was our son, the one who became more than we could imagine, and the one who observed from a pure point. 

He did one thing at a time, and often did it one time. 

Such as the time that he tried apple pie while sitting on the floor of his grandparents’ home with criss cross legs, a fork at the ready. He tried first one bite then another with a broad smile on his face. 

The smile reached his eyes as he finished each bit of pie.

The smile reached his eyes as he finished each bite of pie then joyfully looked each person directly in the eye with his big hazel brown eyes. 

The direct eye gaze was as if to say, ‘Did you enjoy your pie as much as I did?’ with a glimmer of happiness rolling in as he checked your smile. 

Are you like him? 

Enjoying each bite of life with a smile as you check in with others?

You could also be like the artist described here. 

“One of the benefits of being an artist is being very observant.”

― Wayne Gerard Trotman

 Being very observant shows us the benefits of one with eyes open.

Being very observant shows us the benefits of one with eyes open. 

Like our son, who became the artist with eyes wide open to observe your smile and the glimmer of happiness that rolled into every moment. 

How did he become this person? 

This question has not only haunted me, but it has also led me onto my quest for the past dozen years. 

How could he become a person to greet the day, to have his eyes opened then see things like a pie with a smile? 

The answer to this haunted me because he did this alongside decades of illness, changes that he didn’t choose, disability, anxiety and depression. 

Our son stayed observant to the world around him and pure in his ability to stay focused on each part of what he loved. 

Just like the purple for hair and the red for a mouth, because he loved every minute of what he did choose. 

What he did choose was to be a part of life, love and laughter to the full extent that the world gave to him. 

It was in his essence to be one who created art in his life by being in life. Purely. 

Are your eyes open to the possibility of what this meant?

Are your eyes open to the possibility of what this meant for him? 

Now, what does it mean for you?  

Does it mean that the big upheavals of life get in the way or do the little joys stand out instead?

Are you open to the possibilities that keeping your eyes open can bring a chance to look at everything, and consider what will come next? 

For me, taking a look at everything on a shelf and in life is what reminded me that even when I thought I knew where things were, it was time to be more observant and to bring on a new step.

What is one thing you can do to have your eyes opened? 

Perhaps this is something we can each create.