We live in a world of infinite aliveness, connection, reciprocity, and magic.
We can forget this amidst what’s messy and framed by algorithms of like/dislike, agree/disagree.
The world doesn’t exist for our preference about it.
The world is alive as we live into and with it.
Our aperture for connection expands through how sincerely we acknowledge this aliveness, how deeply we listen, how nimbly we play, and how humbly we bow to the magic of it all.
One way to practice feeling deep connection is to attune to what’s alive inside the many small, loose threads that appear throughout an ordinary day.
A thread might be a fleeting memory, a whispered word or phrase, a tingle, tug, or ache, a faint sensation, or an unseen knowing. Nothing is too small, distant, or unreal.
With each thread:
Say hello. Acknowledge and talk with what you notice.
See it as whole. Don’t connect dots or map meanings between threads.
Listen. What stories do you hear? What do you feel and wonder? What wisdoms do you sense?
Play with whatever appears. Yes, okay, hmmm, that’s interesting, what a surprise, what else?
Follow. Meander, roll, fall, loosen, let go of control.
Say thank you.
Love, Melissa
Related posts: Notice yourself; Notice a button; Notice beyond
Additional Resources:
[This post is part of a series of noticing practices. I’ve compiled the resources listed in previous posts here so they’re in one place.]
How to Notice: Expand Your Experience of Everyday Life
in a button (picture book)
Why small objects? (essay, 2021)
(Why Mindfulness Isn’t Enough), The Emerald with Josh Schrei (podcast)
Devotions by Mary Oliver (collection of selected poems)
The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid, illustrated by Sarah Chamberlain
Connexio (open-ended board game)
The Poetics of Space: The classic look at how we look at intimate places by Gaston Bachelard
The Telepathy Tapes (podcast)
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron
A New Science of Heaven by Robert Temple
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
Button Snail Hum is a pollination project of Noticing Matters.
Learn more and connect with me: melissaabutler.com | melissa@melissaabutler.com
