THE ART OF NOTICING EVERYTHING

Something I shared last week in this Journal made a friend of mine think that I am dying. I assure you; I am very much alive.

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There must be something about my words, the ones chosen, how they are said.

FROM THE TIME I CAN REMEMBER THERE HAS BEEN THIS URGENCY, SOMETHING THAT FEELS LIKE A WHISPER MAGNIFIED…

so that the small moments seem large. As if the thumb presses pause and the seemingly most insignificant moment is frozen in time.

I lay on the bed, staring into his little face. I watch his tiny lashes blink, his lids growing heavy hooding his deep brown eyes. Archie’s world is the innocence of pillow cradling head, a well-loved stuffed bear by his side. Even at three, this first grandchild commands such presence as to draw me into a world where everything else important fades, and only love satisfies

Last week I wrote, “I have learned that the soul travels lightly, unencumbered by what we can hold in our hand.” Today, I learned that I was wrong. These tiny fingers, entangled in mine,  speak to a definition of the soul that finds its incarnation in the crevices of connection only realized by slowing way down.

Already at three, his personhood is evident and I am awed by an awareness outside of himself that is far beyond his years, vastly more connected to this world and its abundance than those whose worlds are no larger than the scant distance between face and device.

He runs into the kitchen and stops, breathless, not from the running but from this visceral response to the collection of flowers just picked and arranged into a vase. “My Nēne, those flowers are beautiful!” This is no learned politeness but the manifestation of an invisible soul permeating the room.

I AM, IT SEEMS, OFTEN DRAMATIC TO THE POINT OF BEING MISUNDERSTOOD, “HONEY, WHEN YOU WRITE ABOUT YOUR SOUL, I THINK IT’S CODE THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DEPART THIS EARTH.”

This, my friend’s comment upon reading last week’s blog, speaks to both the confusion and curiosity my words evoked. Yet I am of the belief that the soul does not speak in code…nor is it some quiet, passive observer but the master orchestrator of my life, of yours—
Soul is what defines us, enlivens us, prompts us to notice everything and render it useful, even essential in our comings and goings.  

Twenty-two years ago, I founded Sanctuary Living in an attempt to harness the elements of soul to create spaces that manifest a beauty more felt than seen. That “feeling” requires the willingness to refuse to move through our environments at warp speed. We spend nearly half of our lives getting from one “place” to another. What are we noticing in that in between?

Tell me, when is the last time something you noticed evoked a joyful response—
We misunderstand that we must be a part of something to give it significance in our lives.
We must plan it, engage with it, manipulate it, own it…to value it—

When was the last time simply noticing it was enough?

Without considering what it is that we really mean, words are commandeered, manipulated, overused, and overstated, until their sacred meaning is bleached away. But the soul refuses to be diminished or humanly defined—

It is natural, even common to relate it to what comes after death. Yet how extraordinary to consider it the most essential element in how we live.

NOTES:

The word “soul” so often shows up in the verbal and written conversations of our lives. It’s as if the use of it somehow makes the subject more spiritually significant. But the intention of the soul cannot be diminished by definition, only in its manifestation can its meaning be fully realized.

We are all so in our head-space, so caught up and concerned about this or that—

In blindly going about our days, how much of the soul connection are we missing that is meant just for us?

We ask, “God where are you?” You will find him in the details—

the old man shuffling,

the next door neighbor tending her garden,

the flowers arranged neatly in a vase.

The Art of Noticing Everything has become one of the greatest missions in my life.

The secret to connecting with the soul is to start by believing that the “in between”—an important destination, agenda, or conversation— is stuffed with important messages that you won’t want to miss. 

Then begin living as if it’s true…because it is. Absolutely. 100%. It is.