It was an ordinary morning that became an extraordinary one for a very simple reason: I gave it my fullest attention. And that transformed everything I experienced.
On this recent morning, I woke up early and went for a walk before the sweltering heat of the day settled in. I always enjoy my walks around the city, typically letting my mind wander as I stroll. But on this particular morning I decided to approach it differently, making it a form of walking meditation: quieting my mind and bringing my undivided attention to every detail around me.
With the heightened sense of awareness that focused attention brings, I saw everything, heard everything, felt everything in a more intense way.
I saw the first rays of morning sunlight illuminating the upper leaves on a canopy of trees. I saw a little bird hopping along the sidewalk with a crumb in its beak. I saw a small spider spinning a web between slender branches.
I didn’t have my camera with me, and it wasn’t needed; the things I experienced during this walk are forever recorded in my mind.
I heard birds chirping in the treetops. I heard the distant clanging bell of a light rail car. As my sneakers padded along the sidewalks, I felt the early morning coolness turning to warmth as the sun climbed higher.
Oh, the things I noticed.
I saw small pieces of cotton-ball clouds dotting the sky, lit sweetly from below by the rising golden sun. I saw green summer leaves shimmering in the soft morning breeze. I saw a squirrel scurrying across the sidewalk and burrowing into landscape mulch. I saw sunlight reflecting off a second story window, casting a patch of unexpected glow on the shadow side of a tree.
Ahh, that unexpected glow. It stopped me in my tracks and made me sigh in appreciation.
I experienced all this and more during a 30-minute walk around the blocks near our house in the city. More than ever before, I realized that Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh was right when he said “The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.”
Photographer’s Footnote: I didn't take any pictures during the morning walk described here. The photo above was shot in York, South Carolina in 2020.
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