Take Time to Notice the Ants
Did you notice the ants in the picture attached to this post? If you didn’t, I’d encourage you to go back and take a look then come back. It’s okay, I’ll wait.
Good. Now, why did I ask you to do that? Well, here’s the thing. When I took this picture, I didn’t see the ants. I photographed these flowers because when I was younger, my grandmother had trumpet vines as we called them. My cousins, siblings, and I had a tradition of placing firecrackers in the blossoms when celebrating the Fourth of July. Our obsession with fireworks in general is probably a story for another time, but anyway, back to the photo.
As I went back through the pictures that I had taken that day, I realized that I had inadvertently captured images of these small creatures. As worker ants, I’m guessing they were just hunting and gathering, as that is basically all that they do. I was looking for a photo op, they were looking for a snack. Neither of us noticed the other.
And that’s the thing about ants. We usually don’t notice them until we come into conflict with them. If you live in the southeastern United States, as I do, then that conflict is likely to be in the form of me stepping into a hill of fire ants. Alternatively, you can refer back to the obsession with fireworks to understand a scenario where in anthills are not ‘accidently’ destroyed.
My point you ask? We all have little things that might happen throughout our day that we simply don’t notice, or maybe we just ignore. There is a high probability these things remain unnoticed, until they come into conflict with us. Suddenly they are important, and require immediate attention. You could make a million parallels here. Self care, home or vehicle maintenance, relationships, money. I’m not saying we have to live our lives tiptoeing around everywhere, living in fear of stepping on an anthill. But I am saying that intentionally or not, there are probably ants in some of your pictures, and you haven’t noticed them yet.
As I write this, in August of 2020, most if not all of us are living in a world we may not recognize. The ants of the world might be even harder to spot as we try and deal with a host of conditions. I would ask you then reader, to pause from time to time. Look, listen, speak, stop, change your routine. Give the ants their due, and then continue on. They’ll keep right on working, and with a little luck, so will the rest of us.