Really Seeing
Went for a short walk yesterday. Stood and looked at a tree. A fairly ubiquitous sight, a tree. They’re everywhere, and they just stand there, mostly looking the same from day to day, month to month, and year to year. But as I looked at this tree, I thought of the scene in the Matrix where Neo suddenly viewed the world as strings of data and nothing was real, and I thought of the tree as a big collection of atoms, strings of data, with an entire life going on inside it.
Then I looked down at the grass at my feet and thought the same thing. There was this little bit of a plant sitting right there in that one patch of ground being busy living, finding food and moisture, totally unaware of me, unless I stepped on it. That piece of ground was what it knew of the world and the universe beyond. And it was the same for the tree. That was its piece of ground. It’s place to live. And both the tree and the grass had rich, complex lives, out of sight but in plain view. Both were doing their thing until whatever end awaited them and they were called to disassemble and become something else.
As for me, I enjoyed that moment of seeing the tree and the grass for more than simply being tree and grass. I felt lucky to be moving among them and gifted with my sudden awareness. Although, it’s probably only new to me, because I like to imagine I’m not alone in this. But even if it is just me, that’s still plenty, because I feel enriched and happy to know my sense of wonder is still intact.