I sit here, all by myself, as everything quietens down—a solitude in the open. I hear the birds chirping in different quips, rhythms, and styles. Together, these sounds form a soothing cacophony that reminds me I’m alive, and that, no matter what, I’m well—and we all are. Some birds speak, some sing, some hum, and others do what my limited mind cannot put into words.
Since I opened up to allowing whatever is, especially the annoyances of sounds, I’ve found them to be warm and nice, whatever they are. And unless I constrict myself to holding an opinion of annoyance, it’s all good.
The fog-muted sun is shining in the open as the fogginess of the season graces us with its presence. It’s made the trees dull, the water dry, the grass sullen, and the air coarse. But this time, I see beauty in all of it, I see beauty in the change and the experience of it.
The leaves are drying out in the suddenness of the change of the seasons. They are falling and offering themselves back to the earth with quiet generosity—to those who eat, and to those who appreciate the miracle these are.
I’m cooled down after a 3.4-mile run. I sit on a concrete bench with my feet resting on the grass as my cap and bottle—essentials for every run—lie beside me. The patchy sand beneath shows the many footsteps that have come and gone, reminding me of others who have paused here before me.
Life feels calm and easy, slow and gentle, wholesome and kind. The short escape from the rush of life and the demands of living is an alluring reminder of what life really is and the need to escape as much as we can afford to.
Life is simple, pure and beautiful. We complicate and taint its purity and wholeness. It astonishes me how deeply disconnected we’ve become from the richness of life, especially within the city, where everything feels so close yet diminished by how we’ve watered down our existence. It’s all around us, only we don’t pay attention. It’s a privilege to do that. To pay attention.
In realizing, you truly live. In living, you find liberation. Off you go, dear magical being—free, utterly free!
May we all find these moments of quiet, to see life as it is: simple, pure, and beautiful.
Annah
Ay ay, "fog-muted sun," how bueatiful. And I see we have a photographer here as well! Loved the pictures, especially of the curled up millipede. That was a millipede right?