How much do we take in everyday? And how much don’t we? Yes, we go to work…do our things around the house, and basically try to keep our heads above water in most cases. Recently something interesting happened to me. I was out in my back garden with my three, yes three (!) little dogs….I was getting a kick out of watching them playing when all of a sudden one of my dogs (Elsie) stopped in her tracks to look at a group of birds that had landed on the fence. Elsie was in awe of the sounds that they were making, and how easily they could dart around. I just sat there and listened myself to the beautiful sound that those birds were making. I started thinking, why don’t I hear this sound everyday? The birds probably have for quite some time been around my back garden, but I never noticed them in quite the same way before. The point I’m trying to make is how much do we let pass us by? With us being so caught up in our problems and pressures have we shut off certain aspects of our senses to things that we consider mundane? As I sat watching and listening to those birds I began to think to myself, how many other things have I factored out? What other aspects of living have I put on the back burner?

Our senses are the tools we use to gather information, to hopefully improve and make better judgements to enhance our lives. If we don’t use these senses fully then the information we receive is incomplete. Simple things like hearing birds, and watching rain fall, matters. Just because it isn’t the Wall Street Journal or the evening news, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value. We are human beings, living on a planet that has many wonderous gifts….let’s hope we haven’t taken it so much for granted that we no longer can sense its real beauty.

The next time you go for a walk outside, open up, look around…you may experience things you haven’t noticed for awhile….it may feel like seeing an old friend again…and bring a smile to your heart.

Take the time to love,

Jennifer Avalon
© 1997 Jennifer Avalon