When I go travelling I hope I’ll be able to write about all the amazing things I’ve seen.

However, I believe that being able to see the beauty in something, to be able to appreciate even the mundane, comes from within, not from being astounded. One recent afternoon, I decided I wanted to develop this quality of appreciation in the place closest to me, before I go gallivanting off somewhere: my home.

I walked to my local park about five minutes away, used regularly by families, dog walkers and joggers. It’s an unassuming park from the outside, but on the inside it envelopes a cafe, playing fields, tennis courts, planted borders and a smattering of trees. I’ve walked here a few times but, in my inquisitive mood, I walked down a little pathway I hadn’t been on before and found myself in solitude next to another little meadow. Starlings were singing and a male house sparrow was hopping around. I wandered further and heard a robin singing, and then another in response. It was a sing off! I stood and listened to the competition for a few minutes and managed to spot one of the robins nestled amongst the leafy branches of a silver birch. It made me realise how much we take birdsong for granted. It felt as if someone had hidden speakers amongst the vegetation and was playing beautiful, calming background music for people to enjoy, when in fact the ambience was simply nature carrying on with its daily life. Their pure existence bringing beauty, joy and life to an average place, without condition or expectation.

The species list in this unassuming park continued to grow: blue tits, pigeons, collared doves, blackbirds, great tits, magpies, chaffinches, and a little wren hopping around the undergrowth! Even a little snail, camouflaged on a brick wall amongst the moss.

I sat on a bench to enjoy watching the world go by and a feeling of anxiety started to rise within me. I wasn’t doing anything. Don’t I have jobs to do? Somewhere to be? Someone to message? How did I have time to just sit there doing nothing? I wondered if people walking past were thinking “Lucky her that she doesn’t have anything better to do…😒” So I got my phone out like all good millennials do and typed these notes in my phone and it calmed me. At least it looked like I was doing something.

I realised I was making myself feel guilty for pausing to enjoy life. Yes I did have other things I could be getting on with, but for once I’d decided to prioritise appreciating the world for a few moments, a choice that is becoming more and more infrequent in our results-based society. We base so much of our and others’ worth on how late we work, how busy we are – this dictates a sense of how “good”, useful or important someone is as a human.

In California, I met a woman who seemed to find the wonder in everything. Who took the time to stop and appreciate things, anything. It hit me just how unusual that was.

The longer I sat, the more questions bubbled up inside me. What is that bird call? What tree is that? Why is this area quieter than others? How many robin territories are there? Where do they sleep at night? Usually not knowing the answers to these questions frustrate me, but with a more relaxed mind I realised it was an example of how much wonder there is in the natural world.

All the calm and serenity, that’s what makes a place. Beauty and appreciation with a sprinkle of humanity ❤

(Shout out to Brian, the cutest little doggy who came to say hello to me, and his human!)

“I like dis tree. Dis is a niiiice tree.” *cuddle* (Californian coastal redwoods)