I have been trying to bring a slowness, a mindfulness to my days. I have been practicing eating the grapes slowly, feeling them pop in my mouth. I have been sitting still enough to listen to the wind as it rustles my neighbor’s bamboo. I have been stopping when I walk, and looking up. The view is so different, it makes me feel small in the way that a night sky makes me feel small: small and safe and beautiful human.

I decided to continue my practice while out with my Mamiya 645. I shot the roll, looking up. I loved the roll and am sharing some here with you.

The practice reminded me of Mary Oliver’s poem, Invitation.

Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy

and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air

as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.

How are you stopping and paying attention to the sights and sounds of life?

~Staci Lee