The Density of the Everyday World

We need to love things that are ordinary and banal. We must look at them and respect them. We must open ourselves up to the density of the everyday world. Mindfulness does not need any special environment in order to happen. True, some surroundings can be more helpful or favourable, but mindfulness can come to us anywhere. As long as we make a little effort. As long as we remain awake and present.

— Christophe André  in  Mindfulness: 25 ways to live in the moment through art

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I love the phrase “the density of the everyday world.” How can we ever hope to sense it all, to take it all in and process it? The colour, the pitch, the tone, rhythm, pattern, texture, taste, scents? And then, our reactions and response to it all, complicated and tangled in experience, memory, wish, desire, fear, attachment, grief, hope.

These are photos from two fairly random days in my garden last year, 17 July and 27 August. The pics obviously transmit just visual stimuli, when there was also sound scent, breeze, and so on.

I know I wasn’t aware of even .01% of the things I could have noticed, but my brain or heart might have exploded if I had been.

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Nasturtiums (with insects):

rednasturtiumbloom17July2014

yellownasturtiumbloomclose17July2014

creamandorangenasturtiumbloom17July2014

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“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.” – Hanna Rion

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Veggies (also with insects):

greenbeanplantandflower17July2014

carrotseedlings17July2014

squashplantswithshinyyellowblossoms17July2014

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The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution. ~Paul Cezanne

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Flowers with critters:Dolichovespula norvegicoides (Northern Aerial yellow jacket) on 'Ice Ballet' asclepias

Dolichovespula norvegicoides (Northern Aerial yellow jacket) on ‘Ice Ballet’ asclepias

bumblebee on veronicastrum
bumblebee (and ant?) on veronicastrum
Echinops (globe thistle) bud with harvestman (Opiliones ) on it
Echinops (globe thistle) bud with harvestman (Opiliones ) on it
Tachinidae archytas (possibly Apicifer) fly on 'Summer Pastels' yarrow
Tachinidae archytas (possibly Apicifer) fly on ‘Summer Pastels’ yarrow
juvenile grey tree frog on echinacea
juvenile grey tree frog on echinacea
Common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) on tansy
Common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) in motion on tansy
firefly (?) on echinacea
a kind of Ellychnia (firefly) on echinacea
bumblebee with pollen on gentian
bumblebee with pollen on gentian
hovering bumblebee by gentian
hovering bumblebee by gentian
yellow tansy and red clover
yellow tansy with aphid, red clover
light brown dragonfly on hellebore
light brown dragonfly on hellebore

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“This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness.” – Mary Oliver

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Flowers without very obvious critters:

variegated filipendula bloom
variegated filipendula bloom
Veronica spicata 'Nana'
Veronica spicata ‘Nana’
red gladiolus in bud
red gladiolus in bud
borage
borage
Blue Cadet hosta bloom
Blue Cadet hosta bloom
crocosmia blooms
crocosmia blooms
'Red Fox' veronica blooms and buds
‘Red Fox’ veronica blooms and buds
'Anita Kistler' phlox bloom
‘Anita Kistler’ phlox bloom
'Rozanne' geranium blooms
‘Rozanne’ geranium blooms
pink chelone (Turtlehead) bud
pink chelone (Turtlehead) bud
pink, blue, and orange annuals from the Botanical Interests mix
pink, blue, and orange annuals from the Botanical Interests mix
perovskia  (Russian sage)
perovskia (Russian sage)

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“There is a beauty in the world, though it’s harsher than we expect it to be.”
― Michael Cunningham, The Hours

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Critters on foliage:

blue-eyed Northern spreadwing (Lestes) damselfly
blue-eyed Northern spreadwing (Lestes) damselfly
Yellow-collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis) on comfrey
Yellow-collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis) on comfrey
Riley's Clearwing Moth (Synanthedon rileyana) on Joe Pye Weed
Riley’s clearwing moth (Synanthedon rileyana) on Joe Pye Weed leaf
milkweed tussock moth on asclepias
milkweed tussock moth on asclepias
Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) on clover
cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) on clover
Sciapodinae condylostylus or Amblypsilopus scintillans fly on asclepias leaf
overlit teensy Sciapodinae condylostylus or Amblypsilopus scintillans fly on asclepias leaf
spider eating a bug in asclepias
spider eating a bug in asclepias
damselfly resting on lilac leaf
damselfly resting on lilac leaf
Japanese beetle on grass
Japanese beetle on grass
light brown dragonfly on grass
light brown dragonfly on grass

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“A woman’s whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day her whole life.” ― Michael Cunningham, The Hours

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