An American Tulip Poplar wholives a block away from us.
Listening to: I couldn't find the exact song I wanted, but this will do just fine! (Live in concert they are even more amazing.)
Today's Bliss Formula: Paying attention and sitting still more often. I am "running" too much and that is a not a place from which I am able to be creative. My inner hermit is screaming from the activity, yelling "too much information!"
Are you paying attention?
Yesterday, about halfway through my day, I realized I wasn't. So I stopped all the computer work and went outside and really sat ... still. That sitting still, first of all, completely rejuvenated me. But it also helped me to see my imbalance a bit more clearly and come up with a solution. And finally, it helped me to write in my journal more deeply than I have in weeks.
All from sitting still. For a half hour.
My point being that it doesn't take that long. Though the longer the better. If we don't have time to sit still and notice our worlds, what kinds of lives are we living and are they worth it?
If we don't take time to sit still and notice our worlds, how will we ever be better stewards of this magical place?
And there is magic afoot, let me tell you. A few examples of everyday magic and bliss:
1. Feeding our indoor rabbit her afternoon salad completely from our own garden beds. Our variety of greens -- the colors and the textures -- makes her tail shake.
2. The cardinal who flew almost into me while I sat in the yard. Cardinal totems remind us to be ourselves, nurture ourselves, and add color and play to our lives. Their voices are loud and clear, so Cardinal medicine is about walking your talk.
3. The very small, baby squirrel who let me kneel and watch him eat from a mere 18 inches away. I was taking my walk in the park and noticed him. I could see each of his fingers, that's how close!
4. The good things that are coming from the rise in gas prices: more people buying and riding bicycles, taking public transportation, or just thinking about how they use their cars. My partner has heard people talking at the library about consolidating trips and errands. Something they wouldn't have thought about a year ago.
5. The strawberries! How could I not mention the strawberries? Last night, I cut up a big bowl of them and we ate them atop Julie's organic vanilla ice cream. Julie's rocks! Mmmmm, creamy happiness.
6. The yellow flowers on the early girl tomato plant on our porch.
7. The fattening lily buds -- pictures to come, I'm sure.
8. The cat bird who has decided our crab apple tree is the coolest spot in the city. Last night, he sat and sang and preened and showed himself off. It was quite a display and I am hoping he got a girlfriend out of it!
9. The rain we have gotten -- I have learned to be grateful for the precipitation.
10. My healthy begonias. I plant these for a great aunt who was very special to me and passed away when I was fifteen. Last summer, the species I planted did not like where I put them and I kept having to move them. They flowered but they weren't as happy as I like them to be. None of that this year.
11. The sound of the wind in the trees.
12. The fact that so many people -- people who wouldn't think of themselves as "environmentalists" -- are talking and thinking about plastic water bottles and trying to avoid them. One thing leads to another... (Did I just put a song in your head? If I did, I know approximately how old you are!)
13. The Robin nest in our front tree. I'll try to get pictures. (This is the beauty of digital cameras -- no need to be right at your subject.)
14. The Great Blue Heron who has decided to fly over our house every day like he did last year.
15. Oh, the sky out the window in which I am sitting. The big puffy clouds against a deep blue that we normally only see in the fall.
I'm sure after I post this I'll think of another fifteen things I could have added to the list.
Lists like this can dispel feelings of anger or sadness or despair. Noticing details reminds you that things aren't ever that bad. How could they be when the sun rises and beauty blossoms and the sun sets ablaze with pink and orange?
So, help me out...when you are still, what do you notice?
2 comments:
Being able to hear the trains passing along the tracks when I am in bed at night. I loved this as a child. I would crack my window to hear the whistles floating on the night air. Now it is twenty years later and I have lived all over the country...but I can still hear the trains at night.
very very ironic that i have come across this today. Yesterday I was in my back yard and suddenly this wave of nostalgia came over me and i heard the bug zapper from the evenings of my childhood back yard. I loved that sound. Thanks for making me think about it again. :)
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