Take a Leap In Your Life
Looking Up
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.
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.
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© 2009 Created by Julia Scatliff O'Grady on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
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