How to Pay Attention This Week

The sounds around us are shifting this is how we pay attention

I sit here in the morning today; the cool air is filtering in the office, and I hear the geese honking. Their sounds head south. I can tell by how it echoes in my office through the opened windows as the bit bluestem and native switchgrass clack and brush the edges of the window sill. The sounds that accompany us for one month are powerful tools to engage with paying attention to the shifts in the world around us. Even for those of us in warmer climates, the changes are around you; they may just take a closer ear and sight.

Every Monday, I will share this little newsletter with you to help you tune your senses to the shifting world around you. The hope is that, over time, it opens your mind to do the same in yourself. The task won’t be big. In fact, it shouldn’t be. I will ask you to find something simple every day to watch with a closer eye all week. This will be grounding and bring a sense of wonder into your everyday.

These days, so much of what we experience in the world can be about the big things, but I have learned over the years that the tiniest things in nature are not just fascinating, but they have encouraged me to be curious, be enchanted, fall in love, and find peace when I need it most. In turn, I begin to pay attention to the shifts and sensations in my day-to-day and myself in new ways. It takes time. It takes tiny movements but done over time, they make big changes and can help us garner a new perspective.

Below, you will find a guide to what, how, and why to pay attention to this week of Autumn.