Take a Leap In Your Life
Looking Up and Entering the World
I've been reluctant to make a posting because my leap seems less than a leap and more like a little hop. I wanted to take this time to change one thing about myself: When I walk I want to look up. It's a very little thing, but behind that is a desire to change my posture, which is pretty poor, and to break down those barriers that I carry around me in my life. When I walk I'm usually slumped and looking down at the ground, and I miss a lot of things. I don't engage the environment around me.
So it's a little thing, but I can say there has been a change. In the morning, I count the different shades of orange and blue as the sun rises. I notice which trees got buds first. And since I'm looking up, a lot of what I observe involves birds. I noticed all the bird's nests that are exposed in the winter after the falling trees. I hear distinct bird calls, counting them, rather than just hearing them as one lumped-together symphony. In fact I've finally started learning some of the bird calls of our most common songbirds. I saw a hawk one morning last week; actually I see hawks pretty regularly in the morning.
But my favorite story occurred at work two weeks ago. I was doing a story on two Duke professors who are regular bird watchers. We were in the Duke Gardens doing a short video with them about what birds they might find in the Gardens. We all gathered by the goldfish pond and started talking, when I reminded myself to look up. I did and there in front of me perched on a tree limb some 30 feet above the ground was one of the largest blue heron's I'd ever seen. It's a bit unusual to see them perching because most often they're seen feeding around a body of water. This one looked fat and happy and might have even had a toothpick in his beak. He was quiet as a mouse, simply enjoying the morning sun and plucking at his feathers. I was surrounded by birdwatchers, but I was the one who saw it. So things are definitely looking up.
My question, what other methods do you use to get yourself involved in the day in the morning? How do you enter the world and be part of it?
So it's a little thing, but I can say there has been a change. In the morning, I count the different shades of orange and blue as the sun rises. I notice which trees got buds first. And since I'm looking up, a lot of what I observe involves birds. I noticed all the bird's nests that are exposed in the winter after the falling trees. I hear distinct bird calls, counting them, rather than just hearing them as one lumped-together symphony. In fact I've finally started learning some of the bird calls of our most common songbirds. I saw a hawk one morning last week; actually I see hawks pretty regularly in the morning.
But my favorite story occurred at work two weeks ago. I was doing a story on two Duke professors who are regular bird watchers. We were in the Duke Gardens doing a short video with them about what birds they might find in the Gardens. We all gathered by the goldfish pond and started talking, when I reminded myself to look up. I did and there in front of me perched on a tree limb some 30 feet above the ground was one of the largest blue heron's I'd ever seen. It's a bit unusual to see them perching because most often they're seen feeding around a body of water. This one looked fat and happy and might have even had a toothpick in his beak. He was quiet as a mouse, simply enjoying the morning sun and plucking at his feathers. I was surrounded by birdwatchers, but I was the one who saw it. So things are definitely looking up.
My question, what other methods do you use to get yourself involved in the day in the morning? How do you enter the world and be part of it?
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Julia Scatliff O'Grady on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
