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Don Boivin's avatar

"I’ve learned that amazement is less of a personality trait and more of a muscle. It grows with use. In fact, it requires use to stay healthy." Good to know, because if it were the first, we would just assume we have it or we don't and can't do anything about it, but the second; it's in our hands to go out and exercise that priviledge! This is such a wonderful essay, Sydney!

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you, Don! So true - I was also really grateful to realize I didn’t just “lose” it, but could remember it and practice it and experience it again :) Whew!

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Sue Cartwright's avatar

So true and thank you for the introduction to Sydney's gorgeous writing and photography, Don. Always delighted to meet fellow Nature lovers and hope you both have a wonderful day.

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Don Boivin's avatar

Oh, good, I’m glad you found your way here, Sue! Sydney, I told Sue about your blog this morning. She is a fellow nature lover and nature writer. 💚🌲

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thanks so much for the recommendation - so glad to be connected with Sue :)

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Dave Karpowicz's avatar

Sydney, My goal is to encourage people to exercise the muscle of amazement. Slow down - see - It is a world filled with awe, and we let it go by unnoticed. Cut from the same clothe, D

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Yes! It’s a message that bears repeating, from as many voices as can say it! :)

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Claudia Brose's avatar

Similar mission here.....trying to get people to embrace slowing down as a way to go about life, solving problems, and being more thorough. Seeing, having a sense of wonder, being amazed....all of this plays into it...and gets lost if you rush through life.

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Dave Karpowicz's avatar

Claudia, Thank you for reaching out. Together we do what we can. D

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Claudia Brose's avatar

YESSS! True, the more of us with this mindset spread the word - the more people will understand the value of slowing down and enjoying life instead of seeing life as a race.

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Lois Thomson Bowersock's avatar

I especially like the photo of the hummingbird. Beautiful. Amazing as well, given how fast their wings flutter back and forth!

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you, Lois! That's one of my all-time favorites as well :) The hummingbirds are frequent visitors each year - and yet, I rarely get a photo that is just right. As you said, they are so fast, their wings a blur, it's quite rare for me to be set up in just the right lighting and position - luckily, any time spent trying is completely enjoyable no matter the photo-outcome! 🤣

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Justyna Cyrankiewicz's avatar

"A person who is curious, and then amazed, becomes a person who cares. A person who cares, connects. A person who connects, cultivates."

This is so simple and so important. Indeed a prescription for the betterment of the world. I enjoyed reading this essay a lot, Sydney :) Looking forward to more!

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you so much, so glad to connect with you here!

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Sue Cartwright's avatar

What a beautiful post, thank you, Sydney. Nature truly is amazing in a myriad of wonderful ways! ! I was introduced to you Don Boivin and delighted to have found you. Thank you, Don, I hope you both have a lovely day.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you, Sue! So nice to meet you here, and looking forward to sharing lots of wonderful nature moments with you :)

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Diane Porter's avatar

I'm so glad I found this ode to the love of nature. I am so sorry for your old friend who could not find it in her soul to respond to a cardinal. But your lovely tribute must have inspired a few "Ahh" moments among your readers.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

💕I'm so glad you found it, too, Diane! Yes, she was a cautionary tale in a lot of things, not the least of which was what it looks like to be so caught up in materialism that you can only appreciate "nature" in the form of an adventure excursion. Yeesh. But yes, it was quite fun to write, and it's been even more fun to receive some enthusiastic responses :)

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Jayne's avatar

I love the expression "prone to amazement"! I became prone to amazement as a result of spending a year of taking and posting photos ages ago now, but it made me really *notice* things and l've never stopped noticing and being excited by what l find. Ooh! Intricate seed pod! Oooh! Tiny mushroom! OMG! Wombat poo! 😄 (l'm Australian). Life is so much rewarding this way.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

I relate to that so much! I spent a year of daily photo-journaling as well, and was absolutely changed - I recommend any kind of daily-noticing practice to anyone anytime I get the chance :)

And ohhhhh, the wombat poo, I laughed and immediately realized I have to share a poo story with you, too! When we first arrived here in Maine (northeast corner of the US, in the forest, near the coast), almost all the flora and fauna were new to us and we were constantly identifying things. We were out on the farm one day when we came across these little flower-shaped pellets, and we were like, "It kind of looks like poo. But it can't be poo, because it's flower-shaped. What can it possibly be?" It turns out, we have a giant silk moth here called Promethea, and the caterpillars produce flower-shaped poo! I've really never recovered 🤣 and am tickled at the chance to share this story outside my family!💕

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Jayne's avatar

Haha. Pleased to have given you the opportunity to share! I thought wombats' cubed shaped scat was pretty noteworthy, but flower-shaped is extraordinary.

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Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

This is one of my favorite things I've ever read! Your amazement oozes through my screen and I love it! 😊❤️

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you so much! So happy to share the amazement ✨💕

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Stella Kalaw's avatar

So uplifting, Sydney! I learned something new today— amazement is a muscle. Thank you! Last week, I noticed during my walk that the cherry blossom trees around the corner were starting to bloom. I stopped and stared in amazement. Six days later, we drove by and the blossoming had accelerated— amazing!! I can’t wait to see their progress and witness their full bloom. Just wanted to share that with you!

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you for sharing your cherry blossom story - so beautiful! I feel the same way each year when our apples bloom - when you stop to think about, and watch it unfold, the entire process from bud to blossom is just so amazing :)

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Claudia Brose's avatar

I consider curiosity as a vital personality trait...Being curious about the things around you, about the people you interact with, about other cultures, about yourself, about nature. You never run out of things to think, or do or talk about, or question and listen to if you are curious and have a sense of wonder.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

So true, I absolutely agree! Thank you for sharing :) I'm glad you stopped by - I've just subscribed to Un-Rush and look forward to your essays on the power of slow!

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Claudia Brose's avatar

just stopped by your gallery. Nice work! My husband is a professional photographer. And I created a photography academy organizing photo workshops (not photographing myself, I bring in the experts). So I am very much in love with and connected to photography -- and I guess we are on the same page with photography being such a great tool to slow down and notice things and savor moments.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you! I agree - I picked up a camera to capture things that amazed me - and then also found that walking around with a camera made me see and notice things in new ways. It’s that balance, though, because then you see something great and don’t have your camera, and you have to remember to just enjoy it instead of wishing you were making images! 🤣

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Claudia Brose's avatar

or....you "take" the picture in your head...where it stays....and can be "pulled" out and be referenced to whenever, in any way one wishes. By noticing things and looking at them more thoroughly, without a camera, we "capture" the thing/the scene/the face with our mind.

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Claudia Brose's avatar

Thanks so much for subscribing!!!! I appreciate it. Looking forward to read your work as well.

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Julie Bancroft's avatar

Just fantastic, what an uplifting read (apart from the Red Cardinal story, though there’s hope there too). Thank you.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you! Agreed, the Red Cardinal story always makes me sad ~ but it's also a little backdrop for the hope of how things might be :)

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Colleen's avatar

Beautiful hummingbird photo! And I love the Cardinal story. This past weekend we were amazed by watching Ruddy Ducks bobbing on the lake, storm clouds closing in, and a sleepy toad peeking out from its burrow.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you! Thanks for sharing your amazing moments - I am amazed imagining them :) Oh my goodness, sleep toads are the absolute grumpy-cutest!🤣💕

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Lindsay Hartley's avatar

Lovely. I was amazed by all the different shapes, colours, textures of moss, lichens, and fungal spots growing all over our apple trees branches and trunk today. I've seen it before but today it just seemed to grab my attention, dripping with tiny globes of water on a drizzly, foggy day.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful moment - that's one of my absolute favorite things about amazement, the way a familiar sight can easily become amazing all over again! And droplets are excellent amazement-enhancers 💕

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Lindsay Hartley's avatar

I was thinking at the time just how amazing and gorgeous and wonderful it all was... and wishing I had someone to share it with that would understand. Glad you enjoyed my share. :)

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Aw yay! I am a huge fan of tree-trunk-microbiomes, and am happy to know there’s two of us! 🤣

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Maria Hanley's avatar

A shimmer! Oh my goodness. I LOVE THAT. I'm coming out of my own cotton-packed time, so this post is quite meaningful as I get back into my writing. Thank you.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Isn’t it perfect? I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that, and I’m glad you’re back to writing - your newsletter’s lovely 💕

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Maria Hanley's avatar

Thank you so much, Sydney. That means a lot.❤️

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Teyani Whitman's avatar

What a wonderful post. Thank you.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

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Chloe Hope's avatar

Such a lovely post. Amazement is such a joyful state, and one that too few of us inhabit often enough.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you, so true, thanks for being amazed with me!

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