This particular piece of art, drawn by my daughter, makes me smile. A bold, colorful flower, a really big heart, and her name in whimsical letters.

Joy, indeed.

I walked through warm, spring sunshine from my office at March of Dimes into Whole Foods in downtown Portland, already somewhat euphoric from soaking up the beams of light. And though I’ve been to this Whole Foods several times before, for some reason today it struck me differently. I entered the store and, met by these fresh cut flowers, I stopped in my tracks and dropped my jaw at the beauty of it.
Maybe it was the gerber daisies that grabbed hold of me so strongly. I love the bold brightness of gerber daisies. But it doesn’t really matter what it was. I slowed my pace, took a nice long look at the rainbow in petals before me and even closed my eyes to fully enjoy the sweet smell of stargazer lillies. The whole experience was heavenly.