Friday Nudge: Paying Attention
Today's Friday Five offers ways to pay attention to the small aspects of the Earth community in light of the big worries of the climate crisis
Welcome! I’m Jessica, and this newsletter is about faith and climate action. You can subscribe by clicking here:
Friday Five: 5 ways to pay attention to the small
I am often busy paying attention to the big things going on right now: the stats regarding global heating - now more accurately called global boiling, according to UN General Secretary António Guterres; the increasing number of thunderstorm and tornado warnings in my city; the increasing numbers of climate migrants; and more. Sometimes, though, I am so busy paying attention to the big things of the climate emergency, that I fail to look up - or down - at that which is small in the world around me.
I am referring to the small ways in which the Earth community around me is inviting me to slow down, to stop and pay attention to the life that is all around me, the life in which I am interconnected and interdependent. Sometimes, I feel so busy that I don’t stop and slow down. Yet I know, as so many poets, mystics and theologians tell us, that paying attention to the small wonders that are right before us is an important antidote to the stress, anxiety and worry that the big problems of the world cause.
So for today’s Friday Five, I invite both of us: you the reader and me the writer, to slow down and pay attention to the following:
A bird that is native to your area. For me, one who lives in my hedge and sings throughout the day is the Northern (red) cardinal.
The flowers that grow in the cracks beside the sidewalk. My current favourite flower that does this is the chicory plant.
A local fruit or vegetable that you can only get at this time of year. Here we are in blueberry season!
The smell of the river or lake that is closest to you. Recently I went for a walk along the Rideau River and could smell its scents of plants, animals, and the water itself.
The kind of soil that is in your place, whether that is your yard or the park nearby. Is it sand, clay, or moist loam?
I invite you to pay attention to these Friday Five; drop me a line about what you notice most right now!
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When camping with family this past week I noticed a huge variety of mushrooms growing right around the campsite. They have just sprouted after this season's rains.
Greetings from the Gulf Shore: the bird is a plover (noticeable because of their natural clergy collar!) the flower is Queen Anne’s lace; the fruit is raspberries; the Northumberland Strait is salty; and the soil is red. And this morning we saw a seal.