There’s nothing like the open space of an Australian country highway.
Hundreds of kilometers of bitumen that link one town to the next. This particular section was straight and flat and surrounded by dry fields, yet little splashes of color caught my eye as our car hurtled past them.

More came towards us…. and then disappeared again as we sailed past.

The heads of the little yellow flowers bobbed in the wind, and something about them attracted my attention.

“I’d love a photo of those little flowers.” I said to Stew.

“Just tell me where to stop.”

“I don’t think we can.” This stretch of highway had a tiny gravel shoulder that dipped into dry grass siding. I’d looked, but there was nowhere safe to pull over. I’d have to be content with watching the little flowers bob as we sped by.

A few kilometers down the road, Stew devised a plan. “I’ll put a bit more distance between us and the car that’s behind. If you get out-and-in quick, and use your phone, we’ll be back up to speed before he catches us.”

So, once we’d targeted a patch of flowers in the distance and with the seat belt release alarm dinging “Are you nuts!”  in my ear, Stew pulled to a stop on the highway.

He watched the rear-view mirror. “Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!”, which made me feel more like special ops than some random Nanna wanting a photo of a flower. I leaped out on the steep verge only to discover the bright sunshine had rendered my phone screen black! I tapped madly at the screen and jumped back into the car in around 3 seconds. Thankfully, we were up to speed before our antics affected the following car, other than perhaps wondering what the hell we were doing.

Once we were settled again, I scrolled through my phone to see what my blind shooting had captured.

“So, what’s with the weeds? What made you stop?” Stew asked. He’s used to me doing rather bizarre things and I’m forever grateful he always has my back. 

“They were all facing away from the road.” 

Most of these beautiful flowers were facing away from anyone that might stop and admire them. Each day, thousands of cars passed by them and they bloomed perfectly whether or not they were noticed. They had no care for the busyness of the road, the noise or the dust. They weren’t waiting for perfect conditions, or for things to ‘go their way’. They simply bloomed because it was what they were there to do. 

I took that photo around a year ago now, yet these little flowers came back to me as I thought about the coronavirus pandemic and our need to isolate. There was something else in their growth pattern that’s worth observing.

The reason they face away from the road and the busyness and noise of the highway is that they fixate on their source and not on anything else. They only focus on what brings them life and gives them joy. To them, it’s the sun. It’s what gives them their energy, and lights them up.  Whether the road is busy or is silent makes no difference to their purpose. They continue to bloom and flourish away from it.

The shelter-in-place orders are an opportunity to turn away from the noise and the traffic of our own metaphoric highways. 

The shelter-in-place orders are an opportunity to turn away from the noise and the traffic of our own metaphoric highways.  They are a chance to look around and rediscover our source; to find what brings us joy and lights us up in a way that the dust and gravel of our lives loses its power over us.

What brings you joy?

What gives you energy and lights you up?

What is it that makes times fly and your heart swell?

Family, dance, movement, old movies, friends, music, art, building houses out of cards? The list is as endless and varied as we are.

Here is your chance to make your source your focus. You have permission to dig around if you have to and find what you lost in the busyness of life.

Then like the flowers, turn away from the traffic and let the joy and energy of what truly lights you up be the focus of each day.