Embellishment

Life has a way of grinding on you.  The daily routine becomes, well...too routine.  The "rat race" takes its toll on all of us, and we get burned out.  And then, one day, we begin to notice the little things.  The frieze of your office building and those awesome bas-reliefs you previously hurried past.  The way that embellishment catches your eye and lifts your spirits, puts the wind back in your sails.  Craftsmen took the time to carve out the intricate detail that serves no other architectural purpose than to...brighten your day.  To catch the eye of the weary workmen and remind them of life's little pleasures.  I like to call these moments "urban vacations." 

I have seen them happen often, just while strolling the streets of Chicago.  Some harried trader who is blessed to work at the Board of Trade and lives in oh, I don't know...Winnetka, hurries out of the CBOT building everyday.  She races down Lasalle Street, hurrying to catch her train.  She glances over her shoulder to catch the time.  She knows about the giant clock over the main building entrance and had seen it a million times- but today is the first time she will look at it.  She is stunned, frozen in time in the middle of Chicago's rush hour.  The combined grandeur and simplicity of that clock takes her breath away.  She forgets about wheat futures and porkbellies and overseas markets.  She forgets about Metra and train schedules.  She bathes in the beauty of a clock.  She has an urban vacation.  It took about two minutes, but she is rejuvenated.  This night she will be a better wife, a better mother, a better person. 

The things that become embellishments to us, the seemingly superfluous, were planned by someone.  Someone poured effort and energy into their creation.  Notice them.  Relish them.  They just might be your saving grace in the midst of this frenetic world.  Take time to realize.