“The impersonal nature of wildness is born in the space between our flurry of personal plans and agendas…We can learn to feel again as we did when children, and in doing so, open to the wild, instinctive nature we are.”
– Vince Gowman
I’m aware that not everyone lives in a place where the natural world is readily available. That’s an odd statement, because ‘nature’ is everywhere, even a tree growing out of a sidewalk. However, wide-open spaces aren’t always easily accessible.
Our wild, instinctive nature is easier to access when we let go of our flurry of personal plans and agendas. That is easier said than done. We are creatures of habit.
I had a client years ago who said, “Oh, I finally get it; you are trying to wake people up on the assembly line. I just figured out there is no “there”. I kept thinking I was trying to get there, and I’m always just here.”
Another client, a chief of police who is extremely busy and understandably feeling that it is “all up to me”, has learned to stand up in his office, go to the window, and just look out over the view. He takes 2 or 3 minutes several times a day to look, see, breathe, and adjust his perspective. It calms him, refocuses his relationship with himself, his work, and connects him to his version of the bigger picture.
Maybe it really isn’t all as personal as we think it is. And, what we see, hear, say, and do matters.
I often say self-awareness is not for the faint of heart.
Paying attention to what gets your attention is a useful exercise. As I become more aware of my thoughts, feelings, choices, and experiences, I notice more of what I notice. There is information there.
What do you notice the most as you live your life day to day?
What grabs your attention, captures your imagination, inspires you, provokes you, engages you, or impacts your thoughts, feelings, choices, and experiences? What do these all appear to have in common for you?
I’d love to hear what you notice.