As an artist and a lover of nature, I have always been drawn to natural beauty and so it was as I sat 30,000 feet above the earth on my way to London. Everything was quiet save the loud humming of the plane's engines. Folks around me were sleeping away. I wished I was one of them. I sat and gazed out the window as the first sliver of dawn appeared. Slowly, the light opened and everything became brilliantly beautiful. Just as I was reaching for my iPhone to capture this, a male flight attendant tapped me hard and told me to close the shade. I blankly stared at him and he motioned again for me to close it. I could not believe he was ordering me to close myself off from this spectacular sunrise. Rebelliously, I closed it three-quarters of the way.

I looked around to see if anyone had noticed what had just happened. All were undisturbed and still slumbering. I sat there in the dark with nothing but time on my hands to think...as a society, are we really that removed from nature? Could this be?! No. Not possible. Perhaps this flight attendant was the only "unawakened" soul at that moment? I hoped this was the case.

How might we have all been transformed had we witnessed the dawning of this brand new day? To have watched the light draw itself over the curved landscape of earth and endless clouds. To see such beauty and experience the awe that can only arrive in moments such as these. How might have we been changed? I can't help but think that we would all be better...and even, perhaps, more compassionate for it. Damn sure that flight attendant would have been!

No surprise, I was left without an image to share with you....

- Diane