Today was day seven of my nature observation, and the first day it snowed. Today was also the first day I attempted to do my observation session from indoors, looking out of the large window in my office. Today, I noticed the thick opaque grey sky, the solidity of houses in the distance from across the field, visible through the winter trees beyond the small patch of woods at the back of our property. I tried to picture the large trees' root systems mirroring the mature trees' height, going deep into the earth as their branches extend upward to the sky. I saw only one bird today, a little black and white wood picker with a black split tail swinging off the feeder. As I watched the snow, I felt some gentle surprise as my whole body softened into the space of just sitting and paying attention to what was there. When I look at my social media feed, it's a combination of competing projections, all projecting to grab and hold my attention. When I look a the trees, they are not projecting anything. They are simply being. When I look deeply at them, I feel myself slowing down. I notice how unusual it feels to give myself ten minutes without needing to be doing or learning anything, just space to watch and observe. I feel my whole body and nervous system becoming more deeply resourced by looking out at the frozen landscape on the other side of the glass.
~Mariko