On Noticing the Little Things

My husband, Kes, and I recently finished reading John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on Human Centered Planet. Although Green is most well known for his fiction (I'm sure the titles The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska might ring a bell for some of you), his book of essays moves away from his typical writing style and offers readers a fresh perspective on life in the twenty-first century--how humanity has profoundly shaped the planet we all call home. Assessing everything from scratch 'n sniff stickers to the orbital sunrise, John Green invites readers to take a closer look at that which makes us human, to focus our gaze on our shared experiences, and to take a moment to appreciate how interconnected we are with the natural world. We may not all know one another or share similar worldviews, but we have all felt overwhelming joy, been overcome by deep pain, and reveled in moments of indescribable awe.

"Marveling at the perfection of that leaf, I was reminded that aesthetic beauty is as much about how and whether you look at what you see. From the quark to the supernova, the wonders do not cease. It is our attentiveness that is in short supply, our ability and willingness to do the work that awe requires." -John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

Perhaps what drew me to The Anthropocene Reviewed is its likeness to some of my favorite poetry. Back when I was studying Spanish literature, I was introduced to Pablo Neruda's Odes to Common Things, a collection of odes about--you guessed it--common things we see and interact with in our everyday lives. I remember being absolutely captivated by the odes, feeling truly inspired by the string of words on the page. I was amazed that he could capture the essence of a black cat or link the layers of an onion to the plight of the workingman, all within a few brief lines.

John Green and Pablo Neruda's respective works have a lot in common; they take a moment to appreciate all the little details that make our world awe-inspiring, and, perhaps what draws me to them even more is their ability to ground me in the now--to pull me back into childhood where every little thing brought me a sense of wonder. I think we would all be a little better off if we spent some time inundated in a sense of wonder and curiosity, focusing our gaze on the little things, and trying to understand how those things speak to our collective experience.

Words are powerful. They are unifying. We can weave them together to solve problems and to build communities. I think we should, and because I think we should, I will...starting here with this blog. We are all in need of a little more child-like wonder, and more importantly, a little bit of community.