How much do we notice?  This universe, this very planet, is packed with things that we are not even aware of.  And if by chance we are privy to them…..  often times they are things which we cannot see, or hear, or touch.

Like the air.  Or electricity.  Energy without “physical” form as we know it.  How often do we consider such wonders?  The perfect molecular composition of the atmosphere we breathe?  What about heat, or gravity?  Oh the things we have!  WE haven’t even started to talk about cookies and ice cream yet.

OK, so then, there are the multitudes of gifts we CAN see and hear and smell and touch.  The sunrise melting the blanket of dew from the morning meadow.  A song by the likes of Patty Griffin, or Vampire Weekend… or maybe Opera is the apple of your ear.  Do we take the time to see, to hear…. to notice?

Henry David Thoreau wrote some very keen observations when he penned Walden.  You see, he went into the woods to reflect.   And that he did.  Old Hank said…. “To be awake is to be alive.”

He also said that he had never met a man  who was quite awake.  And I have to agree with the most of it… I think these people are few and far between.  When we begin to recognize, and realize… to grasp the incredible immensity of this gift…

…this gift we call life.  And yet we strive to exist.  We get by.  We survive.  But I wonder how many actually live?  By waking each day with the immense anticipation of what might await?

Thoreau goes on to tell us, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”

Conscious Endeavor.  Oh to see, and hear, and smell, and touch.  To grasp and perceive.  To breathe each lasting breath

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”
― Emily Dickinson

“Earth’s crammed with heaven… But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.” ― Elizabeth Barrett Browning