photo by Alice Popkorn on Flickr
Have you noticed the sunset (or sunrise) recently? Have you heard the crunch of the fall leaves below your feet? Did you smell the recent approaching rainstorm? Did you feel the softness of your clothes this morning? When was the last time you sang a song? If not, it’s time to awaken our senses.
We often take the creativity and beauty around us (and within us) for granted. In our mission to get things done, the sunset goes unnoticed, the crunch of the fall leaves aren’t heard, we wonder what rainstorm?, and we put clothes on to cover us, not to feel them.
A year and a half ago I moved to an apartment overlooking a small pond on a golf fairway. In the distance are the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I’ve lived here for two summers. This summer I noticed herons come and go on the pond, watched incredible lightning shows as the afternoon storms approached, enjoyed the shades of pink and red as the sunlight began to hit the mountains in the distance, and watched men in wetsuits walk around in the pond with netted bags between their legs gathering up golf balls (now that is entertainment!). And, I’ve wondered where I was last summer. I don’t remember any of that last summer…except for the morning sunlight on the mountains. I’ve often wondered where was I? We had rainstorms last summer. I’m sure this wasn’t the first summer for herons to show up on the pond.
Noticing the beauty and creativity around us awakens our senses. We think more creatively. We live life more creatively. Problems become opportunities. Issues become another challenge to think more creatively.
Intentionally slowing down to watch a sunset, to go on a walk and hear the birds and the crunch of the leaves below our feet, to visit an ethnic restaurant to taste new flavors (Indian restaurants are great for this), to take an afternoon and visit an art museum or a zoo, to go on a picnic or a bike ride—these activities awaken our senses.
Taste. Smell. Touch. See. Hear. When was the last time you noticed each sense? What do you do to awaken your senses?
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