I had a bit of a startle this morning, my loves. A young man driving entirely too fast swerved to my lane and nearly hit me.

Thankfully, I had the buffer of center median – and sense enough to pay attention.

And, though my car veered into the ditch – this young man kept on driving.

I always feel so saddened when I notice a spirit ‘tucked away.’ It’s as if the sum total of their living experience will never venture past distraction. Oh, if I might help to pull them away – to share with them the miracle of just simply breathing.

“Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind,” writes Vera Nazarian. “Their leaves are telling secrets. Their bark sings songs of olden days as it grows around the trunks. And their roots give names to all things.”

I’m often asked, “What is the most vital of practices.” To which I always and without hesitation reply, “Learning to pay attention.”

“Great is the human who has not lost his childlike heart,” shares Mencius.

Remember a time when climbing trees was ‘just enough’?

I, myself, could spend hours tucked away in their highest branches – leaning into their gentle away. I’d run my fingers along their tempered grooves, wondering – “If trees could talk, what might they say?”

If only we could bottle that sense of freedom all at once. And, carry it about for those desperate occasions when needed most of all.

To pay attention is perhaps the most simplified of instruction, though – at times, it can be somewhat of a challenge. As, in order to know the truest sense of freedom – we have to be willing to relinquish our reigns.

To let it go…

To let it be…

To finally breathe…

Knowing, in the end – all and everything will be ok.

Namaste, my loves – and may today be the day we finally begin to take notice.