Monday, August 1, 2011

HOW TO BE IN THE MOMENT – 101 Little Tips

TIP #46 
Crush a leaf or bud and smell it.*


There's so much more to plants than meets the eye. As beautiful as they may look, some are like chocolates: you have to get inside to reach the good stuff.
Pine needles, geranium, sage, juniper berry, creeping Charlie: just a few of the plants that may surprise and delight you with their fragrant essence.

* Don't do this if you don't recognize toxic plants when you see them! And please, don't pick anything unless you know the plant to be common and prolific.

6 comments:

Robin Easton said...

Dear Jeffrey,

I LOVE these tips. They are so basic, so richly fundamental to who we ARE. Sure, as a species we may not live it like we once did, but the NEED to do these things (smell, touch, feel, etc.) is still stored in our cells.

I truly believe that we all suffer greatly when we do NOT touch, smell, feel, see, hear, taste, and connecting to the Earth. We may not recognize the suffering as such, but we still feel it as dissatisfaction, restlessness, unease, emotional/spiritual hunger, depression, and so on. I have often felt that so much of our discontent and suffering is due to our lack of relationship, all senses engaged, with the natural world we live in.

We may THINK that it's not really that important or that it's not part of us, but in fact IT is US. WE are IT. It is a physical impossibility to live separate from the very things you share here.

I cannot stress enough how crucial these posts are, and the reminder that you offer us all. I love coming here and reading. It is so soothing, so fundamental to who I am, who we all ARE.

Bless you my amazing friend. I am so glad you here.

Hugs,
Robin

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hi Robin - You're so affirming, so generous in your comments. THank you! I know these tips are pretty simple, but that may be just why they're so easy to take for granted in a world that seems to be clamoring so for our attention.
I'm glad you're here too, my friend!

Robin Easton said...

Dear Jeffrey, I have found that all truly good and meaningful things are very very simple. It is one of the great human tragedies that we have forgotten how simple we/life really are.

If you look back over your life, I bet the precious moments that you remember most are probably very simple, very clean, and very sweet. We all need to return to basics or simplicity. As the saying goes, you can see the world in a grain of sand. I feel that YOU understand this so very well. :)

I replied to your fascinating question on my blog. Man, did I relate to it. :) :)

Jeffrey Willius said...

Robin -- I'm so lucky and grateful to be able to have this ongoing dialog with you about the things we care so much about and that are so central to how the world really works. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed my first visit to your blog Jeffery and felt particularly compelled to comment on this entry. Being present in each moment can be a tough call when life can seem so full of distractions and thoughts of things to be done. However by following your advice and letting all other concerns fall away it soon becomes obvious that it's the only way to truly enjoy a dialogue with nature. Thank you for sharing these tips. My friend Jackie summed it up well in her recent article 'Tasting the Magic in Each Moment' on our Essence of Wild site: http://essenceofwild.co.uk/articles/connecting-with-self/tasting-the-magic-in-each-moment/

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hi wildscapephotos/Jason -- thanks so much for the visit and comment. I did check out Jackie's post -- very nice. I never realized there were naturopathic remedies for lack of interest in the present moment!
Keep up the great work writing and shooting! Hope you'll stop back here now and then!

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting One Man's Wonder! I'd love to hear your comments on this post or my site in general.
And please stay in touch by clicking on "Subscribe" below.