Stop. Look. Listen. Touch. Smell.
What can you discover?
Hello friend,
In the quiet morning as clouds drift away and the sun spreads its warmth, I hear them. A cacophony of tweets and trills, honks, and quacks, chirps, and caws fill the silence.
Our feathered friends know how to welcome the day. They seem to announce the joy that is this day. A day that will be like no other and will never come again. Days are like that.
Those details fall into obscurity, lost in the morning news and the pings shouting from our devices. When our lives swell with challenges, worries, large and small, and the noise of the world, the morning sing-a-long can pass unnoticed and unheard.
I’ve learned that life is too short to miss the enchantment right in front of us, around us, inside us. What is this phenomenon of noticing?
Enchantment is small wonder magnified through meaning, fascination caught on the web of fable and memory. It relies on small doses of awe…those traces of fascination that are found only when we look for them.
—Katherine May, Enchantment
Noticing always comes first. In the rush of traffic, the busyness of the day, when stress threatens to overtake you, try five steps. Go ahead, it only takes a few seconds, but the reward—priceless.
Stop. Yes, just stop reading, scrolling, cleaning. Open your eyes and ears.
Look. Find the smallest thing living or non-living. A cup, an ant, a leaf wet with dew. What do you see? Are you intrigued? Does it hold memory?
Listen. What do you hear? As I write, I hear the hum of the furnace, a train in the far distance, and the gurgling and swooshing of the water flowing from the kitchen faucet.
Touch. I can’t walk through the garden or a store without touching everything. Petals, leaves, thorns protecting rose blossoms, the roughness of burlap, or the smooth silky coolness of satin, and life’s best, a warm hug.
Smell. I’ve heard of people who can smell or taste colors. I don’t have that gift, but my memory bank is full of cold winters at Grandma’s house and the crackling sound of bacon. The aroma crept into my dream, and homemade bread pulled me from the warmth of the featherbed.
Any one of those steps pours over with possibilities to experience awe, wonder, and enchantment.
Katherine May shares the good news, “Enchantment cannot be destroyed. It waits patiently for us to remember that we need it.”
Go out and notice. Enchantment waits.
Food and family make the best memories and opportunities to notice and maybe find a sliver of enchantment.
“A forest is much more than what you see.” Ecologist Suzanne Simard explains how trees talk to each other. Listen carefully during your next walk in the woods.
Songs for the senses: I Can See Clearly Now, I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet, and The Sounds of Silence.
“Every day is filled with opportunities to be amazed, surprised, enthralled—to experience the enchanting everyday. To stay eager. To be, in a word, alive.”
― Rob Walker, The Art of Noticing
If you would like to read more from me, visit my website. I’ll be waiting for you there.
With gratitude,
Kathryn
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I love those five steps. And you’re right, easily achievable. Enchanting.
Visited our son’s home over the weekend. (Fri-Mon) All my receptors were turned on. The website is not working too well. I feel I lost good purchase but I will not sweat it.
Our world is in dire need of our attention. Enchanting is our world. So many ogres are telling at the same time. We need to shut them out to balance our beautiful world.
Be well my friend.
Will drop something in the mail for you one day soon. Will let you know. Please be safe and warm. Thanks for this stellar awareness call. Bless you.
Fabulous message Kathryn. Very thought provoking and the 5 steps are right on target!