The biker, the bear, and the barefooted babe

The other morning I was sitting against a doug fir tree at a local nature preserve, barefoot, calm, and soaking in the sensual delights around me. 

Suddenly, I heard someone running fast through the forest. I turned and saw a black bear about fifty yards behind me.

She stopped and looked around. I stood up, made a little noise so she would notice me, and we made eye contact. Neither of us felt threatened, so we just stared at each other. And I, of course, swooned. :)

Then we both heard another noise. A biker appeared, dragging his bike up a steep trail he wasn’t supposed to be on.  At one point he stopped, huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath. Something about him felt a little off, so the bear and I watched him, occasionally glancing at each other like, “You good? Yeah, I’m good.”

After several minutes of this, the bear wandered off.  Eventually the biker got back on his bike and rode past me, less than 50 feet away.

He never saw me.
He never saw the bear.
He had no idea he was being watched by a big, beautiful black bear and a barefooted babe. (That’s me, ha!)

And it struck me how much he missed.

Where we place our attention is everything. Attention is one of our human superpowers and we have the ability to choose where we put it.

When we place it on the living, breathing world around us, not only do we wake up parts of our brain and nervous system that modern life puts to sleep, but we get to experience the magic of the wild world in wonder-filled and unexpected ways. 

When we don’t… we miss it. Just like that biker.