After spending too much time parked in front of the laptop this morning, I took a little break in our backyard.  Just looking out the window, the landscape seems silent and still.  But one step outside and the realization washes over me that every moment is teeming with sound and movement and life.

It’s happening just like that.  We are so often caught up in our own microcosm that we forget there is a macro world happening all around us, in full sound, color, and light.  As I type, the branches are softly swaying, acorn shells are dropping from a hungry squirrel’s mouth, clouds slowly pass, the neighbor’s chickens clucks are heard loudly through our little valley.

We’re so self-involved, it’s easy to let opportunities to see and relish the world around us pass by.  Staring at our phones, working, going to the gym instead of going for a walk.  These paintings by Australian artist Michael Muir drive home for me what a beautifully colorful world is awaiting.  We just need to open our eyes to see it.

To see more of Michael Muir‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.