Open question : Do you ever stop , Look and Listen?

You have just experienced a Zen Moment, which is precious and wonderful. The more you enter this timeless zone of non-desiring, non-judgemental awareness, the more love and beauty will enter your life.

At the risk of sounding mushy, I think pain, misery and tragic exploitation would lessen around the world if more people were lucky enough to do as you did, and often.

I do stop occasionally. But like you I'm usually running around going from one job to the next with hardly a minutes thought for what I am doing. About a year ago I had a very bad eye problem I was worried I might become blind for the first time ever that really made me look closely at everything I might miss in the future. It certainly makes you appreciate what's around you. Thankfully now I still have to have a lot of eye check ups but I seem to be over the worst (at least for the time being) but I will never take such things for granted again you just don't realise how lucky you are until something terrible happens.

No, I don't stop, look and listen as much as I should, but I do try. I like to lay in bed after the alarm goes off and just listen to the sounds of my house or what is going on outside and try to figure it all out. Or, I enjoy getting up early in the morning and sitting out on the patio(in warmer weather) and listening to the sound of everyone else waking up...the birds start chirping, the sun comes up, you hear more traffic.I am glad you were able to enjoy some time in the shower without rushing. It does make us appreciate the simple things in life.

Not a weird question at all and certainly not a weird moment.

Many have remarked about the 'simple' things in life. To me they are not simple at all. They are what makes life life.

The sting of water hitting your skin, how the soles of your shoes feel against your feet. The smell of someones hair as you dance with them.

No, wonderful experiences. It is not just being observant, it's living in the moment, there is no other time, there is now.

Note the difference the way a pen feels when writing on paper as compared to a pencil.

So many things. So much wonder.

And only 44! So young with so much left to experience.

Can't say as I've ever had one of those moments of stillness in a shower before, perhaps because, like most other people, I tend to overlook the mundane more easily than the extraordinary. I take too many things for granted. But I have had those moments at other times, more as I have grown older.

So yes.

I do often make time to stop and smell the proverbial roses. I just haven't done the shower yet.

I know how you feel, I do like to take time out from rushing around sometimes to stop and enjoy my surroundings, like when I decide to walk instead of taking the bus or hanging out with a group of friends and just enjoying the company. It's a good way of appreciating being alive in the here and now.

Even when I was rushing around, I always took the time to relax enough to enjoy the sights and sounds around me...Now that I am retired, I rise each morning, to my ritual...I fix coffee, and sit by my den window, and watch the sunrise..I hear the "Cheep, cheep", and I know it is the Cardinal foraging for food, and the raucous sound of the Blue Jay, starting our his day...I hear the "Thump, thump, thump" of the Yellow Shafted Flicker drumming on a tree, and here the symphony of the geese flying off to feed somewhere....It is good for the soul to just sit quietly and listen....all the while watching the sky bathe in colors and hues unattainable by the finest artist....Life's little pleasures are always there, ...we just get to preoccupied to experience them....Sometime, in every day, I take the time to just be quiet, and enjoy.....

Yes. My day is full from end to end usually with uni, work, family, friends, housework, societies... the list goes on.

But I always try and find a moment to just stop and look around me and take the time to do absolutely nothing but exist and breath.

My favourite time to stop, look and listen is in my back garden at night when the sky is completely clear of clouds and look at the stars. It brings a huge sense of peace to me - makes me feel very small and yet so lucky to be here.

No it is not weird at all. We all should do it more often. We get all caught up in our lives that we don't take time to 'stop and smell the roses,' as the adage goes. I do what you do sometimes. I admire you for doing what you did, and that you realizes this at your age. Many people are way up in their years when they realize they didn't take time to do some of life's simple things. I think we should take at least one time if not more out of our day to stop, look and listen. Thanks for the great question, and reminder. :)

My mother always stressed to we kids that it was more important to "stop and smell the roses" than to become a worker bee and drudge your whole life away.

I have always followed that philosophy. I find it much easier to do so, however, now that I'm retired. Everyday is a joy, every sunset or sunrise, every rainstorm, snowstorm. The sound of the geese, the birdsong... so much more pleasurable when you can enjoy at your own pace.......