The other day, I went for a walk in a neighbourhood that I don’t know very well. I had some time to kill so I just started walking around. I watched the houses, their garden and what little knickknacks people have in front of their front door. I was loving it. I think a house says a lot about the people who live there. It feels a bit like getting a little glimpse of their life.

The curios side of me starts deducting and tries to find out what a family is like and who lives inside a house. I spot different objects that give away part of their story. Do they have children? How many? Or are they seniors? Is it someone who cares a lot about gardening and spends a lot of time taking care of the garden? At some point I even got a glimpse of a tired stay-at-home mom trying to get her baby to sleep!

It was a nice little walk. Once I had circled the area, I did it one more time, just because. And the second time around I actually saw some things I hadn’t seen the first time. I tried to switch sides of the road to be able to see some other things and to my surprise I actually saw a lot of things I hadn’t noticed before. A sign out on the front porch was all of a sudden visible to me. This was very weird because I had just walked right in front of that house and I hadn’t noticed it. Another house had solar panels on the roof which were only visible from a distance. I noticed many other little details too.

Can’t see your nose in front of your face

- Being oblivious to something obvious, in clear view

This made me think of life and how sometimes when something is right in front of us, we don’t see it or don’t notice it! But once we look at life from a distance, suddenly things become clearer.

When I start getting upset about every little detail and I start stressing about the little things, that is when I know that I am not seeing the big picture. When I catch myself getting upset about stains on the boys clothes or the trash not being taken out on garbage day, I know that on those days I should take a step back.

I try to look at things or life from a far and I very quickly realise that maybe it wasn’t that important! Looking at the big picture, it really doesn’t matter.

The big picture

Since I started doing this, I feel that my life has become easier and less stressful. It has taught me to calm down a little. Which is a very nice feeling. I am sure for my surroundings as well!

The big picture is for you to decide. Our big picture is different for every one and what is important to us is very individual. Just with everything in life, you must decide what is important to you and what your values are. But sometimes, we cannot see the most obvious value that may be right in front of you 😉

What are your tell-tell signs that you are maybe not seeing what is right in front of you? What happens to you when you start looking at the big picture and take a step back? What possibilities comes from that? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

I love how all these existential thoughts came about from just going on a short walk around a neighbourhood!