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To Notice is to Truly Live: Lessons from Nature and the Tao

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Nothing magnifies life more than attention—not just in the sense of focus, but in the deeper way of making the nuances of life greater. To live this way is to step into alignment with the flow of things.

Whether standing knee-deep in a river or ripping down a mountain trail, the act of noticing turns the mundane into the sacred. In these moments, the world is no longer separate from you, no longer something you use or pass through—it becomes part of your being, a mirror of your own aliveness.

Stop, Breathe, Notice

Standing in a river with the current pressing against your legs, you are not simply fishing. You are immersing yourself in a new world. The eagle descending to lock in on its next meal, the silver flash of a Coho rising, the way the sunlight dances across the ripples—it all speaks a beautiful language if you tune in and listen.

As you descend on your bike, navigating each tangled root and ancient rock, the trail is alive with the texture of the moment — and you will never get this moment back. As you lean into a berm or soar over a drop, you’re both letting go and holding on: letting go of the moment you just lived and holding on to the immediacy of this one.

This is the essence of living. It is to understand that the beauty of the moment lies in its impermanence.

The Tao teaches that yielding is strength, that moving with the current is not weakness but wisdom. Attention, then, is not merely focus—it is alignment. In paying attention, you are not forcing your mind to grip the world; you are letting the world move through you.

The Tao says “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.”

Be like Water, Adapt

Like water, allow yourself to adapt, to flow around obstacles without resistance. Happiness isn’t something to chase or force—it arises when we stop fighting the current and trust in the gentle, natural rhythm of life. This is the art of yielding: moving with the world rather than against it, trusting that each bend in the river has its purpose.

The modern mind resists. It filters, abstracts, and simplifies, seeking control instead of connecting. Nowhere is this more evident than in our relationship with technology. The moment you take out your phone to “capture” the moment, you’ve turned life into a report rather than an experience and you’ve disconnected. Attention without feeling is only a report. To truly see the moment, the beauty, the world, you must open your heart as well as your eyes.

It’s not that you can’t take pictures of life’s moments—but true beauty isn’t in the image; it’s in the moment itself. A picture can capture the colour of a sunrise, but it can’t hold the warmth of the light on your skin, the quietness of the world still asleep, or the awe that fills your chest as you stand there.

Be Still, and the World Reveals Itself

I’ll never forget standing by the river at dawn, the world wrapped in a quiet glow. Out of the woods across from me emerged a pack of twelve wolves. They moved with a grace; sleek and silent against the backdrop of trees. I felt like this moment was a gift just for Me. I didn’t try to capture it with my camera, instead, I allowed it to fully capture me. Absorbing every detail: the way the walked together in unity, their beautiful grey and black coats, the rhythmic nature of their paws on the earth, the quiet power of their eyes looking at me. It reminded me that the greatest moments in life don’t need to be preserved—they need to be lived.

When we let go of distractions—whether external (technology, noise) or internal (striving, anxiety)—the world unfolds before us, revealing its quiet beauty and harmony. By not chasing or grasping at life; instead, by being still and receptive, we allow it to show us its depth and wonder.

 

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