Seeing the World for the First Time

If you read my very first 2 part Blog post (To Everything There is a Season), then you know about the birth of Fluffy’s 2 kittens.   (If you want to catch up and read this story in miracles click here)

 

Today the kittens are 3 weeks old.  The white kitten started to open her eyes at around the 10 day mark and the black one was lagging behind about a day or 2.  When they first started to open their eyes they were just little partially open slits.  Now they are wide open.  So cute!  They are growing so fast….

 

 

The interesting thing about kittens is that they are born both blind and deaf!  Their tiny little ears are folded in and of course their eyes are closed.  Watching them grow it got me thinking about how weird it must be to essentially just be going on your sense of smell and touch for the first 2 weeks of your life.

 

Now, at 3 weeks old, their ears are unfolding and their eyes are wide open.  They are experiencing the world for the first time.  Now, when I come in to the room , they look up at me with those adorable little faces.  They are getting curious.  They are starting to walk more and explore.  Just like with human babies, or anything new to the world, they are seeing things with a fresh perspective and a sense of wonder.

 

This made me think about how as adults we often lose that fresh perspective…that sense of wonder…that curiosity for life.   It often takes a serious illness, brush with death, a major loss, or any other tough event for us to not take life and all the little wondrous things in it for granted.  As adults we get so desensitized by things, so busy, so caught up in the cares of the world and in our own lives, that we don’t take the time to slow down and REALLY notice what is around us.  What if every once in awhile we took the time to get “little” again?

 

I think a huge part of living an inspired life is taking time outs to notice all the little things around us in our corner of the world.  Even if you are super busy, you could probably spare 15 min. or so a week to do this.   Personally I recommend doing this at some point every day if you can.  It’s sort of like a living form of meditation and can help to de-stress you, refresh you, and boost your creativity or inspiration.

 

So how does one get “little”?  Well for me, it almost always means spending time in nature (we were created to connect with nature) and I relish every season and the new things the seasons bring to my senses.  To get little you have to be an observer.

 

Lay in the grass, notice all of the individual blades and how cool the grass feels beneath you.  Watch the ants crawling around in it.  Or take a walk and look at the trees and the flowers.  Go up to them and touch or smell them.  Watch the birds or a squirrel or any other kind of wildlife you may see. Lie in a hammock or on the ground and watch the clouds or if it is at night- watch the sunset or the stars.  In the fall, you may want to walk through the leaves and notice the crunch under your feet and the smells of autumn.  In the Winter, you may want to take a walk in the snow and notice the brisk air and catch snowflakes on your tongue.  Smile and delight in the things you observe.  You get the idea…  It’s sort of like being an explorer and it is good for the soul.

 

I have been doing this a lot this summer and have to say it creates a sense of joy inside when we allow ourselves to “get little” like this and notice the beauty around us… with all our senses.  It allows us too to sort of  “see” the world again for the first time.

 

 

 

So that leaves me with 2 Questions for you

1.  When was the last time you REALLY noticed the wondrous things around you and didn’t just pass them by?

2.  How do YOU get ” little” ?  I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this too!

~Rebekah