Noticing

I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone my way

and forgotten it. But that was the pearl

of great price, the one field that had

the treasure in it.

extract from ‘The Bright Field’ by R.S. Thomas (Laboratories of the Spirit, MacMillan, 1975)

I am surrounded by endless information, comment, chatter. Look at this! What do you think of this? Do you want this? You should see, read, watch this! I can multi-task, eat and walk at the same time, drive and listen to music, help with homework whilst doing a shopping list. I can bounce into people, pop into shops, click onto social media. My head is so full and yet my soul is can be so empty, starved of nourishment. “A dry and weary land, where there is no water” Psalm 63 v1.

A few years ago I felt my soul was withering. The endless rota of life was exhausting. I was dashing through life, but running on empty. I made a few changes that were good for my soul. One was picking up a camera. When I look through a lens and compose a photo it is like I gain new sight. I see with ‘fresh’ eyes. The common and everyday that surround me take on a new interest and glow. I slow myself and redirect my gaze. I want to know what I am looking at and not just assume that I can ‘see’ it. I slow down, I notice.

How many times do I pass a ‘bright field’ and not really ‘see’ what is there. Not notice the treasure right in front of me? Yet I am surrounded by pearls of great price everyday. The opening of a yellow and purple crocuses, the chatter of hidden sparrows in a nearby hedge, the sight of a wiggling worm munching through soft spring earth. The smell of warm bread, hot coffee, zesty tangerines. The heart sharing of a friend, the smile of a neighbour, the sigh of my dog as he snuggles on my lap. A simple walk back to my car that is slowed by me having to turn and wave to my delighted grandchildren; after each step they shout “Bye Nanny” and so I turn and wave and shout “Bye” back to them.

This was a glorious Spring weekend. I drove to the local coast. It’s not a tourist spot but just us locals and dog walkers who go there. Not white sands and blue waters, but the muddy brown flats of the Severn Estuary. But as I gazed out to sea, the sunlight dancing on the far off water and making the sand banks glisten, I knew it was a pearl of great price, and it nourished my soul.