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Mockingbirds and Notebooks
"By having a reverence for life, we enter
into a spiritual relation with the world. By
practicing reverence for life we become
good, deep, and alive."
Albert Schweitzer
I sat at my outside desk this morning,
writing, as per usual, when I heard it.
The strangest sound was emanating from
one of my bird friends. First, it sounded like
an electronic alarm clock, then a monkey
and then a siren. I laughed and said,
"Silly mockingbird.
She sang again, it seemed in response
to my attention. More likely she sang
because she enjoyed singing.
Samuel joined me at my desk, as he
does on most mornings. We wait for
his school bus, together. It is one of our
unwritten rules of order. Mommy writes.
Comes inside and takes care of morning
chores. Mommy goes outside with Samuel
and waits for Mrs. Waltz to come.
We discuss cars that drive by, dogs and
owners who walk past, and various
other topics as they appear.
I heard the alarm-clock-
"Did you hear that funny bird, Samuel?" and
before we knew it we were off and running
on the subject of birds: mockingbirds,
specifically. I wondered if he would feel
a special kinship for the mockingbird since
because of his life along the autistic spectrum,
one of his uniquenesses is his ability to hear
and repeat many sounds.
Most recently we were watching a movie.
There was a song in the movie which held
out a long note, ending on a full-bodied
vibrato. Samuel stunned me by singing the
same note, perfect pitch, perfect vibrato.
This delighted me to no end.
Why am I telling you about this?
Life is filled with "by chance" experiences
which bring us sheer delight when we are open
and willing to see them, all around us, all the
time: when we are awake to these moments,
when we honor them – when we are grateful
for them in all their ordinary simplicity – then
we are able to understand and become intimate
with awe and wonder as a state of being rather
than something you may occasionally tap
into by chance.
This morning after I dropped Emma at her Middle
School, I found myself walking in the aisles of the
local discount store before 8:00. I would have rather
been at my desk writing than wandering about a
store, but I needed several items – like band-aids
and a memory card for the camera my friend
loaned me when I decided to wander through
the notebook aisle since, I told myself, my current
notebook was filled so quickly I would need another
one before I knew it.
I leafed through the first pile before looking further
and noticing a bunch of red, clearance tickets by piles
and piles and piles of spiral bound notebooks. $1 for
my favorite style notebook which was nothing fancy,
mind you. I snapped up one with Ashley Tisdale from
"High School Musical" on the cover, just for fun.
There was a familiar striped notebook which I
knew was for the Eco-Friendly amongst us so I
put it into my cart as well. I was especially excited
because that one was college ruled, which meant
I could write more words per page when I sat
on my front porch desk to write.
I turned to leave and saw the Mercedes
version of my cheapie notebooks on the shelf
for only $2. It has a bendable, more sturdy cover
and it featured the color pink. You might have
thought I was sixteen-years-
found the perfect designer gown on sale in the
last days before for prom from the way I
responded to this simple, $2 purchase.
I opened it and saw the final crowning glory:
college rule!
There were even coordinated matching sticky
notes so I could keep track of writing entries
I found to be particularly enlightening. "Yes,
Dear Julie, There is a Santa Claus, and he has
come exceptionally early this year," I
thought to myself.
Notebooks, mockingbirds, sticky notes and
waiting for a school bus may seem mundane
because they are mundane. Yet when we add
our personalized element of intentionality to
those very simple moments, we come to
appreciate them for the wonder within
them simply because we are living them,
moment-by-moment-
Henry David Thoreau said, "Pursue some path,
however narrow and crooked, in which you
can walk with love and reverence."
The path I am walking is to have my heart
and words be imbued with grace and wonder,
whether I am writing about something "the world"
seems as extraordinary or whether I am writing
about the simple joy of finding my favorite notebooks
on sale or the mockingbird making a call so similar
to the alarm clocks that undoubtedly had been
ringing all around the neighbor, unheard
by me, all morning long.
Consider these words to be your call.
What "by chance" ordinary occurrence is
one you will choose to look at with
wonder today?
What will you create from having
that experience?