The Quiet Between Sips

I spent this morning watching a robin on my windowsill. It didn’t seem to notice me at all, even though I was only a few inches away behind the glass. It just tilted its head, dipped its beak into the small puddle left by last night’s rain, and went about its business. It made me realize how much of the world happens in these tiny, private intervals. We are so used to being the main characters of our own loud, busy lives that we forget there is an entire rhythm running parallel to ours. It is a rhythm that doesn’t care about our schedules or our to-do lists. There is a profound kind of peace in knowing that nature doesn’t need an audience to exist. It simply drinks, it breathes, and it moves on. Sometimes, I think we are at our best when we are just quiet enough to witness that, without trying to change it or claim it as our own. What does it feel like to be a silent witness to a life that isn’t yours?

Nazmul Shanji has captured this exact kind of stillness in his beautiful image titled Drinking Time. It is a gentle reminder of the grace found in waiting for the world to reveal itself. Does this image make you want to slow down your own day?