Set in the tranquil beauty of a countryside farm, readers will join Lily as she breathes in the fresh morning air, welcoming the warmth of the rising sun. As a nature lover, I’m thrilled to share the gentle transitions of the natural world on each page, inviting you into a peaceful journey of discovery and admiring.
Have you met the characters yet?
This is what the farm looks like in the morning…. simply breathtaking
Messages
This story encourages children to embrace their curiosity and discover answers on their own. It invites them to observe and appreciate the deeper meanings behind simple aspects of life, like food and how plants grow, fostering gratitude for the beauty of life and everyone involved in its creation.
Inspiration
It took me years to learn the importance of looking deeply into everything in life, from simple objects like flowers and plants to people and situations. This understanding comes from a significant practice in Buddhism—deep observation as part of mindfulness.
The story I want to tell here centered around bell peppers — a kind of fruit that I used to reject due to its smell (just like Lily – our main character).
When we look closely at a bell pepper, we realize it is composed of non-bell pepper elements. The bell pepper embodies the essence of everything around it. We can see the sunshine, rain, clouds, and earth; we can recognize the contributions of the goose, Lily’s uncle (in this story). We also witness the passage of time and space within the bell pepper. Like everything else, bell pepper is entirely made up of non-bell pepper elements. The entire cosmos has come together to help the bell pepper manifest itself.
The bell pepper cannot exist in isolation. Just like Lily, her uncle, her parents, myself, and everyone else. We all have to inter-being with everything in the cosmos and are all part of an interwoven existence.
A “natural artist”…
One significant source of inspiration for this book is my deep love for nature. Nature doesn’t need to be described as breathtaking scenery or landscapes that we dream of seeing, or as something only found in a fantasy world. The beauty of nature resides in the simple forms of life that we can easily touch and be surrounded by.
From the sound of birds chirping in the early morning to greet us, to the sunny, cloudy, or rainy skies, and the gentle balance between them—each moment offers beauty. A leaf falling onto your hand or hair, still green or already turned yellow, or a mixture of both; a flower blooming or fading; a ripe tomato; a purple bell pepper among a bunch of red, yellow, and green ones—all these details reveal nature’s splendor.
The beauty of nature lies in the eyes of the observer. And it lies within you as a passionate lover of life and a natural artist. Observing and enjoying nature is also a form of art in which you and I are artists ourselves.
—- Dahlia——