365 Inspirations—153: Slowing Down and Paying Attention

Blooming Camellia in my front yard

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."—Lao Tzu

When I have many things to do, my usual tendency is to speed up, but for some reason I s—l—o—w—e—d way down today.

I would do one thing and then stop and just sit there with absolutely no thoughts. This doesn't usually happen to me. Normally when I have a lot to do, I'm on to the next thing before the first is even finished.

I started noticing things I hadn't noticed before. I mowed the lawn in the backyard and noticed that our new roof that we got last summer has very interesting little black boxes on one side. I have no idea what these are for. While attentively raking the grass into small piles, I would take rests and watch the trees in our backyard sway in the breeze as huge bumble bees got their fill of pollen from the flowers overhead. I closed my eyes and felt the sun on my shoulders. I listened to the leaves speak. 

I sat down on the front step. Everything was blossoming, blooming, and buzzing. Everything was alive. 

My heart seemed to beat to the drip of the outdoor tap. I stepped behind the bushes, in close to the house, to tighten the faucet and then returned to my place on the step.

I felt full of everything. I felt alive with all that was around me.

I don't know how long I sat there.

Amazingly, I got everything done that I needed to do. I gardened, checked half the tests for one of my classes, made dinner for my husband, cleaned out the fridge, did the laundry and now I'm typing this post. 

I felt like each activity I did was new. I was so curious about each step in the process. I felt like a baby who feels grass between her toes or hears the sound of birds for the very first time. I'm not sure why this day was different than any other day, but I like this new pace.

I'm going to go slowly more often, especially when I feel the need to speed up.

Do you remember the activities you did today? Were you aware of each step in the process? Do remember all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes around you?