August 30, 2016 - 17:20
My avatar is a photograph I took on my iPhone this April. On that particular day, my boyfriend and I decided to take my dog, Muggles, for a walk. We walked into the woods and under oak branches dripping from the morning's bout of rain. Muggles, who hates walking on damp ground, cautiously stepped through the dew-drenched grass. My boyfriend and I watched and laughed at the pitiful expression on the pudgy pooch's mug as he snuffed around. We casually discussed what we should have for dinner, and once we had decided, I tugged Muggles' leash so that he would begin walking home with us. He didn't budge. Annoyed, I turned to him but softened when I saw what he was so intently focused on; a single yellow daffodil, which had sprung up from the muddy earth much earlier than usual. Muggles was sniffing the flower with gusto. I thought to myself that, truly, all animals are empiricists - we all live through our senses. It is through our empirical experiences that we perceive the world around us and learn. When we step into a puddle of mud, we learn the feeling of discomfort. We learn gravity from seeing raindrops fall from tree branches. When we see a daffodil in the midst of April we learn that everything grows at its own pace. The serendipity of a situation shows us pleasure. Standing there under the leaking canopy, I decided to take a picture to preserve this moment. It serves as empirical evidence that in the world's mess of overwhelming sensations, sometimes the littlest surprises deliver us the most joy.