Slow Down A Second

I was in a solemn mood today, so I went outside and watched the sunset until it was dark. And I have to say, it was really something.

Everything was tinted orange and the sky was blazing with four different colors. The clouds were drifting lazily away from me and I could hear the crickets humming all around me. The temperature was perfect- not too hot, not too cold-and the air smelled like fire. I'm guessing someone was having a bonfire or something.

It was nice to find the time to just sit and watch the sky change and listen to nature. The last time I remember watching the sunset was a few years back when I was in peewee soccer, so I wasn't even outside by choice. I remember looking at the burnt orange sky, so alive, like nothing I've ever seen before, and I turned to my coach and told her that it looked like Hell was taking over Heaven. She looked at me like I was the dumbest and craziest kid she's ever seen.

Maybe I was.

It just made me think of how I never took time to appreciate the small things. The sunset was short- like ten minutes really, and I never even noticed it before.

I'm sure you've heard the expression "take time to smell the roses" or whatever it is. I never liked that saying. I thought that whoever made the expression should mind his/her own business, and if people didn't have time then smelling roses wasn't worth being late. But now, I don't know. What if it was worth it?

I feel like I'm the definition of a conformist. Always wanting to blend in, fly under the radar, do exactly what society wanted. Who cares about nature? You better know the top ten on Q102. Everybody acted like that for a reason. They weren't called weird, or an outcast, or a loser. For some reason, that's what works. I think I just think too much.

I'm off topic. For whoever reads this: tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that, I want you to watch the sunset. Put down the papers, step away from the computer, pause the xbox, and just take ten minutes of your day and see if it's worth it.