Pay attention. And then what?

-
Instructions for living a life:
 Pay attention.
 Be astonished.
 Tell about it.

This was the prompt for last Sunday afternoon's writing session; it is verse 4 of Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes. 

The piece I wrote speaks to the core notion of attention but questions just what to be astonished by...


Yes, Mary, but there is so much to pay attention to. 
How to choose? 
How to know what is truly important?

Oh

It is all important

That little bird
This morning’s sunrise
The zillion specks of dust
The car parked next door
The kitten purring on the sofa
The man in the oval-shaped office

No
Surely not

How could it be —
all important

To be astonished by it
that is easier

There is much to be astonished by

The audacity of men
The stupidity of humans
The lack of basic decency
The unconditional love of animals
The beauty of the natural world

But it is the audacity of so many men that leaves me breathless

So I turn to Jane
Choose to listen to her instructions for living a meaningful life
She teaches —

NO is a complete sentence
Aging is a staircase not an arch
Be outraged
Speak out
Organize
Action is antidote to despair

I think

this world needs both
Mary’s words and Jane’s instructions

Above all, and certainly,
this world needs
the balm of Mary’s poems
and
the energy of Jane’s politics

There is much to be astonished at in this world of ours

We must pay attention
We should be astonished by much of it

We will tell about
for who
could believe it
if we didn’t.

***

NOTE 1: The Jane I reference is Jane Fonda (not Jane Goodall, who died recently and who had her own instructions for living; you can watch her recite them here).

NOTE 2: Unless you're Margaret Atwood or Louise Penny, an author needs help getting the attention of their ideal readers. So I am delighted to announce that one of my writing friends has just had her first book published. It's a fast-paced story, perfect for any middle-grade-age reader who wants to be taken on a journey from school science projects to a realm where magic powers exist. Maybe, just maybe, Iggy, the story's hero, will save the day — but only if she can persuade herself to believe in her own power. The Unlikely Hero by Ani Birch is available via Amazon; read my review of it here. 


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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

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