Taking Notice

"Go outside.  Don't tell anyone and don't bring your phone.  Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day out, to the bus and back home and we cease to see.  We walk in our sleep and teach our muscles to work without thinking and I dare you to walk where you have not yet walked and I dare you to notice.  Don't try to get anything out of it, because you won't. Don't try to make use of it, because you can't.  And thats the point.  Just walk, see, sit down if you like.  And be.  Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have, and realise that that is enough to be happy.  There's a whole world out there, right outside your window.  You'd be a fool to miss it."  -Charlotte Eriksson

A friend posted this on Facebook this morning and it resonated with me.  It, in many ways, embodies the spirit with which I have attempted to live life and raise my children.  The description of this blog, from its inception, has been "From the time my youngest children were wee ones I have encouraged my family to view life as a grand adventure.  Life may consist of a series of small and seemingly mundane activities yet when viewed through the lens of possibility and opportunity life becomes a grand adventure."  Charlotte Eriksson's advice can be taken literally and I am all for that.  I love taking different routes to familiar places or seeking out new places and unfamiliar experiences to acquaint myself with.  Her words, however, can also be lived out in spirit.  There may be a path we walk routinely but when "viewed through the lens of possibility and opportunity," when recognized as "the whole world out there, right outside your window" and "you'd be a fool to miss it," that path can become varied and exciting, it can inform us and inspire us.

There is a path that our family has routinely traversed for nearly a decade.  This path has delighted us with many wonders when we have traversed it with awareness and curiosity.  We have met a groundhog that had made its home near the railroad tracks.  We observed an enormous oak tree drop thousands of acorns to the delight of dozens of squirrels actively preparing for winter.  We have observed the perpetually green magnolia tree during all the seasons.  We have seen its velvety seed pods burst so as to release its bright red seeds.  We have seen hundreds of little icicles form on the tree's green leaves and have heard them tinkle through those same iced leaves as the icicles have broken free.  We have listened to the male cardinal serenade his lover, seen the fairy circles of mushrooms, and felt the warm sun and the bitter wind on our skin.

We have walked this path as individuals, alone with our personal observations and thoughts.

We have walked it as a family engaged in lively conversation, having our curiosity piqued and pondering all the deep thoughts.

We have walked this same path hundreds of times yet each time has been different, the path offering up something unique for us to be a part of if we care to "notice" and "just be."  If we care to view this routinely taken path through the "lens of possibility and opportunity" it becomes part of our grand adventure.