Hi Anne that quote from Henry James has been a favorite of mine since my college days, it’s a mantra for me, as I try to slow down, notice. Walking the Camino de Santiago in September did that for me, two weeks of walking with my daughter, day after day in nature & landscapes unfamiliar to me, all there to be discovered. It’s why I love travel, too, and look forward to my move to Barcelona next March, so much closer to travel destinations I love.
I am a painter, and I try to notice things in nature that will fuel my ideas for painting. While in the Northeast US on a trip to visit family, we found we were about a week too late for high color of the leaf change. I had to really hunt to find some spots of color, which heightened my awareness of the area. It helped me to appreciate the surroundings. While we travelled to areas we both grew up in, I toured some historic homes I had never seen the inside of. We visited a nature preserve my husband had never been to previously. Living in the moment helped us appreciate our visit even more, aside from seeing loved ones we hadn't seen in several years. We are no longer able physically to travel abroad, which we loved to do, but are trying to get around our own country to enjoy the differences in topography, architecture, food, and people; things that enrich our travel experiences.
As someone writing a newsletter call Conscious Living, I cannot agree more with what you said here. Travel is indeed my portal to conscious living; it is just it's nature, but alas, not everyone want to nor have the opportunity to do more of it. I do try to use all the the things I learned from traveling—the constant curiosity, wonder, awe, and open mind—in life. It is not easy, but whenever I get to tap into it, time slows down and life becomes more vivid.
I notice lately how people connect to each other IRL. A couple who share a laugh. A man gently guiding a friend across the street with a hand on her back. Conversations amongst a group. Or other people, like me, taking it in. Quiet. No screen. No objectives.
Loved everything in this entry, but in particular the invitation to become active observes of our reality and to find ways in which we can renew the way we see, and travel it is of course a fantastic way to do that and look at life through different eyes.
Thank you for reminding us of paying attention to the world around us and the gift of travel. I have traveled more in the past five years then ever before and I love learning more about history, other cultures and people. I feel more connected and more knowledgeable and exhilarated with every trip.
This is so true! I used to travel a lot more before the pandemic and I've been trying to get back to being interested in visiting new places (not only those where friends and family live) as a way to stimulate the mind and be exposed to something unfamiliar to me.
The cathedral is beautiful, and I love how you appreciate and take in everything. I am a writer and an artist, and so I'm glad to notice the world around me. I do take pictures of what intrigues me, and I have a good idea of what I'd like to turn into a painting. It's important to notice our surroundings -- and travel is a good way to appreciate them, but even if one doesn't travel, we can look at things anew.
Yes yes yes, I love the power of travel to wake me up to noticing the world around me again. I came home (to New Zealand) from a recent trip to Europe and for a few weeks saw my home city through the eyes of a traveller once again. It's enlivening and snaps me out of the stupor of everyday tiredness and mundanity. Thanks Anne, for this reminder 😊
So many thoughts provoked from this post. As summer started winding down here in Southwestern Montana, I made a commitment to spend at least a bit of time each day in the hammock before I would have to stash it away for the winter, likely next week.. I started photographing the same view from my spot amongst the trees each day so I could document the changes in the sky. the trees, the grass.
This is why I take nature walks. I love to notice everything around me: the birds twittering, the wind moving the wildflowers, the changing color of the leaves, the patterns made by the light filtering through the trees. It doesn't matter if it's the same path - I always see and experience something different. I'm also eager to start afresh in Virginia in January, as I know I will really be noticing and paying attention to so many new things!
I love your point about travel and renewal. It’s so true. I returned, a few weeks ago, from a week in London by myself. When I left, I was burned out from a summer with kids out of school, trying to write my novel, and and the wheel of family life. A week away by myself…far, far away from home, worked wonders for my mental wellbeing. The trip restored me in so many ways.
I’m so glad, Maria! I think moms should absolutely take time off to renew their souls. Our true selves can get lost in the whirlwind of caring for others if we don’t. And yes, the kids will be fine. :)
This is so interesting because I live in London and find it fatiguing in many ways. When I was working five days a week in an office in Central London, and living on a busy main road, I was desperate to get out and move somewhere quieter. I stayed, and thankfully my pace of life has been calmer and quieter for a while. Still, it's helpful to remember that one person's source of burnout is another person's source of wonder and renewal!
That’s the truth! I think whatever your “daily grind” is holds the potential of burnout. I live on the central coast of California, 7 min from the ocean, in a resort town many people flock to for beach getaways. I love it and don’t want to move, and yet…a change of scenery is important every now and again, I think. I found the bustle of the city invigorating, but I might change my mind if I had to deal with it everyday. It also helped that I was staying with friends and had none of my daily responsibilities.
It was hard won, believe me 😂 I had a lot of second thoughts about leaving three kids at the beginning of the school year. But I went anyway! And everyone did just fine.
I have lived my life this way - and thank God. But, there was a time when a river took me to the banks of despair - now I m back with even more presence.
I love your photos and since I was just in Edinburgh in June of this year, it reminds me again of why I loved my time there. I was in daily awe while traveling in Scotland.
Home in Canada, I'm awed right now by the fall colours. It's breathtaking. I don't recall feeling so amazed by the fall colours before, and I've witnessed this seasonal transition my whole life.
I'm realizing that as I age, I'm becoming more aware and more open to the wonder of it all and want to learn more, whether traveling or at home. At the same time, I'm becoming less tolerant of the things that I perceive may hold me back or slow me down. Interesting times for sure!
Thank you! For the affirmation and validation of all of my noticings!! Sometimes I feel I’m the only person around me that notices so much. When I’ve shared some of my thoughts with others, they don’t seem to get the extent of what I’m feeling and experiencing. And then I wonder if I notice TOO MUCH. “Converts the very pulses of the air into revelations” resonated so much with me when I read this here today. It describes what I experience. Looking back now, I think I’ve always had this in me, and it’s grown and developed over the years. But I haven’t been aware of it until recently. I think that noticing is in part what helped me through my 35-year marriage. And now that I’ve finally left the marriage, and I’m free to travel, to live, and to be me, noticing is becoming such an everyday part of me! Like many of you who’ve commented, I’ve been looking more, thinking more, and noticing more about the trees and the leaves and the weather this fall too.
I am not a writer and I’m not familiar with many works of well-known writers. But when I discover them (like I did today!), I get excited about them! Thank you so much for writing this piece and for helping me discover this passage and this work from Henry James. I think more and more about doing some writing of my own these days, I guess because my noticings and subsequential experiences in my newfound and newly acquired freedom are leading to clearer and more vivid and imaginative revelations.
I appreciate every comment here as well; I feel so much likemindedness! That is another thing that I’m realizing is very important in life - and something that is becoming a priority for me now - finding and spending time with likeminded people. ❤️
This is lovely, Wanda! It’s wonderful to hear of your journey and your attentiveness. I too have felt more attuned to the world around me since leaving my marriage. It’s a great feeling to have the world open up before you!
Such a beautiful, inspiring post! My goal is not only to notice but to savour too . I keep a journal where I write down all the tiny moments of beauty and wonder I witness during the day and it has been a life-changing habit : I didn’t know it but we are surrounded by endless sources of awe in our daily life. Of course, if you can travel, you enlarge your horizon and enrich your life exponentially… Thank you for this post and for all the interesting comments, so glad to be part of this lively community.
Hi Anne that quote from Henry James has been a favorite of mine since my college days, it’s a mantra for me, as I try to slow down, notice. Walking the Camino de Santiago in September did that for me, two weeks of walking with my daughter, day after day in nature & landscapes unfamiliar to me, all there to be discovered. It’s why I love travel, too, and look forward to my move to Barcelona next March, so much closer to travel destinations I love.
That’s wonderful! It always feels great to have something to look forward to.
I am a painter, and I try to notice things in nature that will fuel my ideas for painting. While in the Northeast US on a trip to visit family, we found we were about a week too late for high color of the leaf change. I had to really hunt to find some spots of color, which heightened my awareness of the area. It helped me to appreciate the surroundings. While we travelled to areas we both grew up in, I toured some historic homes I had never seen the inside of. We visited a nature preserve my husband had never been to previously. Living in the moment helped us appreciate our visit even more, aside from seeing loved ones we hadn't seen in several years. We are no longer able physically to travel abroad, which we loved to do, but are trying to get around our own country to enjoy the differences in topography, architecture, food, and people; things that enrich our travel experiences.
As someone writing a newsletter call Conscious Living, I cannot agree more with what you said here. Travel is indeed my portal to conscious living; it is just it's nature, but alas, not everyone want to nor have the opportunity to do more of it. I do try to use all the the things I learned from traveling—the constant curiosity, wonder, awe, and open mind—in life. It is not easy, but whenever I get to tap into it, time slows down and life becomes more vivid.
Whenever we can slow down, things will turn more vivid, won’t they? So well said!
I notice lately how people connect to each other IRL. A couple who share a laugh. A man gently guiding a friend across the street with a hand on her back. Conversations amongst a group. Or other people, like me, taking it in. Quiet. No screen. No objectives.
Loved everything in this entry, but in particular the invitation to become active observes of our reality and to find ways in which we can renew the way we see, and travel it is of course a fantastic way to do that and look at life through different eyes.
Thank you for reminding us of paying attention to the world around us and the gift of travel. I have traveled more in the past five years then ever before and I love learning more about history, other cultures and people. I feel more connected and more knowledgeable and exhilarated with every trip.
This is so true! I used to travel a lot more before the pandemic and I've been trying to get back to being interested in visiting new places (not only those where friends and family live) as a way to stimulate the mind and be exposed to something unfamiliar to me.
Hi Anne,
The cathedral is beautiful, and I love how you appreciate and take in everything. I am a writer and an artist, and so I'm glad to notice the world around me. I do take pictures of what intrigues me, and I have a good idea of what I'd like to turn into a painting. It's important to notice our surroundings -- and travel is a good way to appreciate them, but even if one doesn't travel, we can look at things anew.
Yes yes yes, I love the power of travel to wake me up to noticing the world around me again. I came home (to New Zealand) from a recent trip to Europe and for a few weeks saw my home city through the eyes of a traveller once again. It's enlivening and snaps me out of the stupor of everyday tiredness and mundanity. Thanks Anne, for this reminder 😊
Lovely! Sounds like a wonderful trip.
I love taking time to notice things, Anne. Thanks for reminding me to do so!
So many thoughts provoked from this post. As summer started winding down here in Southwestern Montana, I made a commitment to spend at least a bit of time each day in the hammock before I would have to stash it away for the winter, likely next week.. I started photographing the same view from my spot amongst the trees each day so I could document the changes in the sky. the trees, the grass.
What a great idea!
This is why I take nature walks. I love to notice everything around me: the birds twittering, the wind moving the wildflowers, the changing color of the leaves, the patterns made by the light filtering through the trees. It doesn't matter if it's the same path - I always see and experience something different. I'm also eager to start afresh in Virginia in January, as I know I will really be noticing and paying attention to so many new things!
I love your point about travel and renewal. It’s so true. I returned, a few weeks ago, from a week in London by myself. When I left, I was burned out from a summer with kids out of school, trying to write my novel, and and the wheel of family life. A week away by myself…far, far away from home, worked wonders for my mental wellbeing. The trip restored me in so many ways.
I’m so glad, Maria! I think moms should absolutely take time off to renew their souls. Our true selves can get lost in the whirlwind of caring for others if we don’t. And yes, the kids will be fine. :)
This is so interesting because I live in London and find it fatiguing in many ways. When I was working five days a week in an office in Central London, and living on a busy main road, I was desperate to get out and move somewhere quieter. I stayed, and thankfully my pace of life has been calmer and quieter for a while. Still, it's helpful to remember that one person's source of burnout is another person's source of wonder and renewal!
That’s the truth! I think whatever your “daily grind” is holds the potential of burnout. I live on the central coast of California, 7 min from the ocean, in a resort town many people flock to for beach getaways. I love it and don’t want to move, and yet…a change of scenery is important every now and again, I think. I found the bustle of the city invigorating, but I might change my mind if I had to deal with it everyday. It also helped that I was staying with friends and had none of my daily responsibilities.
Oh how I wish I could take a week to myself in the UK! It sounds lovely.
It was hard won, believe me 😂 I had a lot of second thoughts about leaving three kids at the beginning of the school year. But I went anyway! And everyone did just fine.
Thank you Anne - An inspiring post indeed.
I have lived my life this way - and thank God. But, there was a time when a river took me to the banks of despair - now I m back with even more presence.
I love your photos and since I was just in Edinburgh in June of this year, it reminds me again of why I loved my time there. I was in daily awe while traveling in Scotland.
Home in Canada, I'm awed right now by the fall colours. It's breathtaking. I don't recall feeling so amazed by the fall colours before, and I've witnessed this seasonal transition my whole life.
I'm realizing that as I age, I'm becoming more aware and more open to the wonder of it all and want to learn more, whether traveling or at home. At the same time, I'm becoming less tolerant of the things that I perceive may hold me back or slow me down. Interesting times for sure!
Thank you! For the affirmation and validation of all of my noticings!! Sometimes I feel I’m the only person around me that notices so much. When I’ve shared some of my thoughts with others, they don’t seem to get the extent of what I’m feeling and experiencing. And then I wonder if I notice TOO MUCH. “Converts the very pulses of the air into revelations” resonated so much with me when I read this here today. It describes what I experience. Looking back now, I think I’ve always had this in me, and it’s grown and developed over the years. But I haven’t been aware of it until recently. I think that noticing is in part what helped me through my 35-year marriage. And now that I’ve finally left the marriage, and I’m free to travel, to live, and to be me, noticing is becoming such an everyday part of me! Like many of you who’ve commented, I’ve been looking more, thinking more, and noticing more about the trees and the leaves and the weather this fall too.
I am not a writer and I’m not familiar with many works of well-known writers. But when I discover them (like I did today!), I get excited about them! Thank you so much for writing this piece and for helping me discover this passage and this work from Henry James. I think more and more about doing some writing of my own these days, I guess because my noticings and subsequential experiences in my newfound and newly acquired freedom are leading to clearer and more vivid and imaginative revelations.
I appreciate every comment here as well; I feel so much likemindedness! That is another thing that I’m realizing is very important in life - and something that is becoming a priority for me now - finding and spending time with likeminded people. ❤️
This is lovely, Wanda! It’s wonderful to hear of your journey and your attentiveness. I too have felt more attuned to the world around me since leaving my marriage. It’s a great feeling to have the world open up before you!
Such a beautiful, inspiring post! My goal is not only to notice but to savour too . I keep a journal where I write down all the tiny moments of beauty and wonder I witness during the day and it has been a life-changing habit : I didn’t know it but we are surrounded by endless sources of awe in our daily life. Of course, if you can travel, you enlarge your horizon and enrich your life exponentially… Thank you for this post and for all the interesting comments, so glad to be part of this lively community.
Savoring! That is a great idea. A fleeting notice isn’t really enough. So happy to have you here! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.