Everything looks the same these days, don’t you agree. If you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times.

A tree is a tree, a meal is a meal, a girl is a girl, right?

But what if we could learn to see like a small child who tries to soak up as much as possible? What if we could learn to see with fresh eyes, to appreciate the remarkable uniqueness of our ever-changing lives?

I was recently listening to a loved one talk the other day, when I suddenly–and unintentionally–became startlingly aware of her. I’ve seen her thousands of times, and yet, I’d never seen her in this moment: I looked at each line on her weathered hands, the specific color of her sweater, the few strands of grey hair.

I really saw her in that moment, not the amalgam of our shared experiences, and when I did, I felt an authentic rush of love. There can be tremendous insight and connection when we stop seeing the world through the lenses of our own perceptions of reality and instead see the world as it truly is, right here and right now.

Everything looks the same these days, don’t you agree. If you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times . . . or maybe not.

Is a tree just a tree or is it a towering monument to nature’s persistence in the face of adversity, one that existed long before you were born and that will endure long after you are gone?

Is a meal just a meal or is it the culmination of so many people’s hard work, the farmers, the merchants, the chefs, all of whose collective efforts coalesced into this particular experience of pleasure and nourishment?

Is a girl just a girl or is she a genetically unrepeatable child of God with eyes that twinkle and a smile that can wash away the worries and woes of a life too long lived on the sideline?

Are you just a reader of this blog? Am I just a writer? Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe we should learn to see anew, and in so doing, experience a greater sense of love for this world and all those who inhabit it with us.