Noticing Nature: sense of place

During this morning’s sit spot I noticed the withering rose blossoms and thought ran through my head: “ Wow, how come I hadn’t noticed that? Nor did I see the spent Cala lily flowers? I didn’t even cut a single one for a vase this spring!” The season is shifting under my nose. Am I paying attention or too busy with life to notice?

So, for the topic of today’s nature journal,  I decided to look more closely at my yard to deepen the sense of place- of connection with this place in nature. Approaching observation with this intention focuses my attention, so that I begin to really SEE what’s here. Each day we are bombarded by so much input through our senses – sounds, sights, thoughts, sensations- that our brain filters a lot of this out so that we end up walking around partially blind- not really seeing our surroundings, only just enough to get us from place to place safely.

Because I have taken the time to really notice what is going on in my yard, and document it on the page, this journal entry will serve as a record of what stage the plants are in my garden late May this year. I can compare this entry to one a week or a month or a year from now to understand how they change and transform.

What do you see in your nearby nature? Are there flowers blooming? Are any going to seed or fruit? Are there newly emerging leaves?



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