When I was in preschool and we were getting a bit rambunctious, our teacher would call a timeout in the air. Everyone instantly knew that they needed to return to their desks, close their eyes, calm themselves by breathing deeply and listen.
For a minute we would simply listen and remember everything that we heard. We would then take turns telling our class mates what our ears had picked up on. It was a mindful exercise I learned when I was only six utilizing only one of my senses. I still use it today, but I've expanded it to include all of them. Here's my senses experience from today.
I woke up before dawn and stretched my legs, then my arms. Everything was quiet inside, but outside the cats were meowling a frightful noise. I went upstairs to see what the fray was about and when I stepped outside, it was like stepping into a whole other world.
The sounds that weren't reaching me inside the cocoon were now singing to me. Crickets, so many crickets chirruped a happy little symphony in rhythm. The sky was dark and thick with clouds high up. I could only see a handful of stars through the open patches.
The palm tree leaves rustled with the breeze, an even sound that at first I could not place as it sounded so much like light rain.
The cats had moved off as soon as I opened the door, but were watching me from the next field. I am sure that there were other things they were watching too, like mice and moles.
"What would it be like to be a mole?" I wondered
Able to dig yourself a tunnel with hand claws and feet, just big enough for your body to move through. Dark black all around you. Worms and ants, termites and beetles all sharing your space until you ate them. I could just imagine it...
Seemed claustrophobic but snug. Like being wrapped up tightly swaddled as a baby.
I brought my mind back to me as I listened to the few cars passing on the road, then the noise seemed to simply disappear into the distance. Not much traffic at this time of the morning.
The wind whipped up and played with my hair, stroked my skin and left goosebumps in it's wake. Fresh. I love the morning air, it always seems so alive with potential of what the day might bring.
Movement? Was that movement down below? I searched in the darkness but could not find any real animal to make out what the movement was from. My imagination maybe?
I listened to the tiny birds waking up and calling a plaintive call as if wondering where their parents were with the morning mealworms.
A truck went past, low gears carrying weight. I couldn't quite make it out but perhaps it was timber. I let the thought go as I saw the cat that was slinking in and out of the bushes that had roused my senses just moments before. A sleek little thing, mottled grey in the little light available. I wasn't sure if this was one of the ones I had heard fighting just minutes before I came out. It didn't even seem to know I was there.
I wrapped my cardigan around my arms a bit tighter and decided to head in for coffee. What a beautiful start to the day.