When You Wish Upon A Star...

I am taking a slight detour from my format of posting pictures I personally took (I did not have my camera with me, and even if I did, I would not have been able to capture this shot). This image comes via Petros Giannakouris/AP and is a photo of the Perseid meteor shower in the village of Fanos in central Greece. (You not only get personal perspective here, you may also get some interesting tidbits of FYI's, such as the fact that this specific light show occurs every August.)  We happened to be out this morning...very early this morning...with our dog, which proved to be and provided an unexpected treat.  The annual Perseid meteor showers happened to be going on and I was fortunate and lucky enough to catch a glimpse of two "shooting stars!!!"

What struck me about this moment was the feeling of child-like wonder, excitement and anticipation I felt while gazing into the dark sky, hoping and looking for a white tail streaming across the relatively black morning canvas...and making a wish when I did. (Then the grown-up part of me thought "Gee, I hope a bird or a bat doesn't drop a surprise on my face or in my mouth!!!" So much for child-like abandonment!)  

The "aha" lesson or reflection I walked into the house with was the desire to have more of these "shooting star moments"...those precious moments in time where and when we are able to quiet our "grown-up selves" and let our "inner child" have its frolicking moment of playing and splashing in the fountain of life; when ice cream dripping down our cone and hand doesn't instantly conjure up thoughts of dry cleaning and stain sticks, where instead we focus solely on the sugary goodness of joy, per se, that we have in our grasp.