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Kim Manley Ort's avatar

We are back in lockdown here in Ontario, so my days are pretty much like the movie Groundhog Day, very much the same and confined to home and neighbourhood. So, I’ve been practicing paying more attention to the little things I do every day and take for granted.

Drinking water is one. I’ve been trying to remember to drink a full glass before every meal, noticing how good it tastes and how it makes my body feel better almost immediately. I’m lucky to have clean water to drink and it makes me think of places and people who don’t have clean water, even in my own country.

Today, I took a long look at my socks. My sister knit them for me and they’re warm and comfy for these January days. Besides that, they’re beautifully designed with different shades of blue. I’m not a knitter so I marvel at the time and care that went into making them. I sent her a picture and text to say how much I appreciate them.

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Timothy's avatar

Earlier this week I read about the book ‘Our World,’ and Mary Oliver’s relationship with her partner, photographer Mary Malone Cook. Oliver, known for her keen sense of observation, realizes there is more to observation than reportage:

“It has frequently been remarked, about my own writings, that I emphasize the notion of attention. This began simply enough: to see that the way the flicker flies is greatly different from the way the swallow plays in the golden air of summer. It was my pleasure to notice such things, it was a good first step. But later, watching M. when she was taking photographs, and watching her in the darkroom, and no less watching the intensity and openness with which she dealt with friends, and strangers too, taught me what real attention is about. Attention without feeling, I began to learn, is only a report. An openness — an empathy — was necessary if the attention was to matter.”

That last sentence is an epiphany for me; that attention isn’t just reportage; it’s deeper and thus can be more fulfilling if you’re open to it. Remarkable.

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