jessa

One morning, I decided to start my day sitting on the outside bench with my e-reader and a hot cup of decaf coffee (please don’t judge). Surrounded by trees under the cloudy blue skies, I was able to hear more of the morning.

Normally, I would begin my day by reaching for my devices and checking what’s up, until the notifications and emails overwhelm me and guilt me into working immediately, trapping me with my laptop. But since today’s a no-work day for me, I did not feel pressured to do anything but enjoy the morning sun.

I never thought about how much I’ve been missing every day, just by listening to the birds sing. They sound so lively and lovely, small busy bodies flying from tree to tree, picking on things I barely see. Looking at them fly made me see that there is life outside of my head—that other living creatures are also co-existing with me—which made me think less of my worries and simply enjoy the music of singing birds. Their songs made a beautiful soundtrack, allowing me to enjoy the book I was reading.