Life Awareness - It is happening all around us
May 01, 2025 04:13AM ● By Daniela Jaeger
It is happening all around us
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” —Lao Tzu
For humans, when we are dealing with a major life event, everything outside of it comes to a halt while we focus on what is demanding our attention in the moment. Of course, nothing really stops; life goes on all around us. It is only our awareness that changes.
Sometimes, developing a laser-like focus is necessary, especially when dealing with a crisis. But we can also make the case that remaining aware of what is happening around us, and in the lives of others, can balance our perspective and guide our decision-making.
When we get in a hurry—when we forget to consider what else is going on—we can get stuck. We think that what we are going through is all that is happening, but the truth is that life is changing all the time. Even that big thing you are struggling against is changing, though it might be hard to see right now. No, life does not stop because we are having a crisis, nor should it. With the changes come possibilities… and hope.
This idea can be seen easily in nature. Birth, transformation, beauty, decay, and death are in a constant cycle in the world. Nothing stops except the one who lingers too long in one of the stages.
Here in Southwest Florida, we are in the middle of the spring season. What does that look like where you are? Have you made time to notice? If not, I would like to encourage you to take a much-needed break. Unstick yourself from the phone and from all those electronic social interactions. See how spring has changed the landscape. Feel the breeze, the sun. Smell the air. Let nature teach you how to slow down and find joy amidst the cycle that you are experiencing.
In my last publisher’s letter, I wrote about how I felt while watching a flock of seabirds suddenly take flight in front of me. That experience with a simple, daily occurrence in nature shifted my thinking from the work of getting a nice photograph to sharing in the feeling of freedom, strength, confidence, and independence that the birds were enjoying.
Whatever you are going through in life right now, get outside and be part of nature’s inspiring cycles. Breakthrough often happens when you broaden your awareness.
Nature’s response to springtime usually reminds me of starting fresh. At home, I imitate that by cleaning. I grew up in a three-generation household where my grandmother and mother diligently cleaned every inch of our house every spring. My siblings and I knew it must officially be spring when the house smelled so fresh. “Ah!” we would say. “It’s spring cleaning!”
Nowadays, I carry on that tradition, and it feels great. Going through closets and storage, rediscovering items that bring up special memories, making space, and just getting everything shiny and clean again gives me a better perspective on past, present, and future. I am honoring the past, tidying up the present, and preparing for a hope-filled future. And nature, as my special friend, through open windows sends her cleansing breezes, just to make sure I am still aware of what really matters the most.
Here’s hoping that you find fresh awareness in your present cycle of life.
Life never stops amazing me. Whether it is a good day or a bad day, a restful season or a stressful one, a time to laugh or a time to cry, life goes on around us in its intricate cycles and daily patterns.
For humans, when we are dealing with a major life event, everything outside of it comes to a halt while we focus on what is demanding our attention in the moment. Of course, nothing really stops; life goes on all around us. It is only our awareness that changes.
Sometimes, developing a laser-like focus is necessary, especially when dealing with a crisis. But we can also make the case that remaining aware of what is happening around us, and in the lives of others, can balance our perspective and guide our decision-making.
When we get in a hurry—when we forget to consider what else is going on—we can get stuck. We think that what we are going through is all that is happening, but the truth is that life is changing all the time. Even that big thing you are struggling against is changing, though it might be hard to see right now. No, life does not stop because we are having a crisis, nor should it. With the changes come possibilities… and hope.
This idea can be seen easily in nature. Birth, transformation, beauty, decay, and death are in a constant cycle in the world. Nothing stops except the one who lingers too long in one of the stages.
Here in Southwest Florida, we are in the middle of the spring season. What does that look like where you are? Have you made time to notice? If not, I would like to encourage you to take a much-needed break. Unstick yourself from the phone and from all those electronic social interactions. See how spring has changed the landscape. Feel the breeze, the sun. Smell the air. Let nature teach you how to slow down and find joy amidst the cycle that you are experiencing.
In my last publisher’s letter, I wrote about how I felt while watching a flock of seabirds suddenly take flight in front of me. That experience with a simple, daily occurrence in nature shifted my thinking from the work of getting a nice photograph to sharing in the feeling of freedom, strength, confidence, and independence that the birds were enjoying.
Whatever you are going through in life right now, get outside and be part of nature’s inspiring cycles. Breakthrough often happens when you broaden your awareness.
Nature’s response to springtime usually reminds me of starting fresh. At home, I imitate that by cleaning. I grew up in a three-generation household where my grandmother and mother diligently cleaned every inch of our house every spring. My siblings and I knew it must officially be spring when the house smelled so fresh. “Ah!” we would say. “It’s spring cleaning!”
Nowadays, I carry on that tradition, and it feels great. Going through closets and storage, rediscovering items that bring up special memories, making space, and just getting everything shiny and clean again gives me a better perspective on past, present, and future. I am honoring the past, tidying up the present, and preparing for a hope-filled future. And nature, as my special friend, through open windows sends her cleansing breezes, just to make sure I am still aware of what really matters the most.
Here’s hoping that you find fresh awareness in your present cycle of life.
Daniela J. Jaeger
Group Publisher, TOTI Media
