The expression ‘stepping outside the box’ takes you away from redundant routines into territory filled with intensiveness, often nervousness, but at the same time, opens up new horizons, bold ideas. It is a mindset establishing an entirely new way of thinking ultimately guiding you toward listening to life around you from a totally new perspective. When you wake up in the morning, what are the first thoughts that come to your mind? If they encompass dread or a boring outlook, it is time to cast off the dreary atmosphere that surrounds you. Gaze out the window, listen to life’s songs!
BEYOND THE BOX
A room bears semblance to a box
Ceiling to floor, wall to wall
Confining that which is inside
Posing not much change at all
Outside a bedroom window
Surfaces life beyond the box
Unfurling naturally
Without the need for alarm clocks
As daylight filters through the window
The new morning rises into view
Not to be seen as melancholy
But one bidding the old adieu
Greetings with the beam of light
Snap attention when your alarm rings
Not much else greets early morn
Except the voice a “good morning” brings
Consider the birds as they awaken
Filling the atmosphere with song
An ambiance of joyful melodies
To carry with you all day long
Ponder how nature greets the morning
Eye to horizon, in between
Unfolding in striking harmony
Monopolizing your first scene
Ease toward the window’s light
Thwarting thoughts of the day before
No reason stuck inside the box
This day, days to come, no more
Thoughts now align with the day ahead
Beyond the box into the light
Listening patiently, intensely
Not to miss a moment in flight
©2015 Sharla Lee Shults
I desperately needed to reevaluate, get outside and beyond the box and my head. Time out again to reinvent. Fight or flight.
—Marilyn Grad (Self-taught artist, n.d.)
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