{"id":35,"date":"2026-07-19T14:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T14:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldnotes2126.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:17:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:17:48","slug":"a-big-world-full-of-little-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"A Big World Full of Little Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Birdwatching at Norman Bird Sanctuary in RI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the circumstance, 
Wherever the location, 
You can always look up at the sky revel in the 
Magic of dusk and dawn, or 
Listen to the wind as it blows its mystery.

Whether around the eaves of the house, 
Or a potted plant on the balcony of an apartment, 
There\u2019s a big world full of little things\u2014
Unnoticed beauty 

Sometimes you need to get close to the ground 
Crouch down so you can see the 
Small and inconspicuous forces of nature
The intricate webbing in the seaweed or
The veins in a leaf

My Nana gave me binoculars and a magnifying glass 
when I was little 
All of a sudden the sprinkling of sand grains were 
Gleaming jewels of crystal rose,
The patch of moss gained new interest as 
Insects became as big as lions

Have you ever heard the song of a wood thrush?

The voices just before daybreak are my favorite\u2026 Robins, Blue jays, cardinals
A chorus so joyous it can only be the 
Throb of life itself 
Then there is the orchestra at night 
Crickets howl their tune until autumn ends and 
The frosty nights take over

In the winter, I would focus my glass at the 
Topography of the moon and when 
I was patient enough, 
I would see the birds pass across its face. 
I can still feel that moment 
It met me with a surprise and delight so strong it made my Heart race and sent goosebumps down my spine

When you dwell alongside our earth\u2019s
Beauty and mystery,
You never have to be alone 
Or weary of life

In the refrain of nature, 
There is infinite healing, 
And there is infinite peace

Reflections<\/strong>
When you are present in your attention, you shift your nervous system state. When I was a little girl, noticing my fascination with nature, my Nana gave me binoculars and a magnifying glass. The physiology of wonder \u2014 the kind that slows us down \u2014 is a gift I was given. A rehearsal of presence.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attention is a nervous system state…a rehearsal of presence in relationship with the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,33,32,18],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-attention","tag-nature","tag-peace","tag-presence"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_2118-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_2118-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Kristen Holmes","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/?author=1"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_2118.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldnotesonbeinghuman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}