When we are mindful, we experience the immense detail of the ordinary world. It is a sensuous and intoxicating affair. We take the world and all its detail in through each of our senses.
Joyce Sutphen reminds us that, when we experience the immense detail of the ordinary world, we are like Gulliver in a world we have not experienced before. We have, but living at a breakneck speed can deny us the full, embodied richness of the experience.
When we slow down, we see the world and its detail fully. Seeing is the default sense we experience, but I think as we slow down we more fully experience the world and all its details through all of our senses.
The world and we become richer a richer tapestry textured with the fullness of previously undetectable tastes, fragrances, traces upon skin, and gentle murmurs. Similar to the small child, the world and all its detail are fresh and new. We see, again and nothing is too small for our notice.
Like Gulliver in Brobdingnag, I
swooned to see again the immense
detail of the ordinary world:
the rippling surface of a fingernail,
exactly the color of a horn erupting
through the swirled-hair head of a calf,
the flayed landscape of skin where
catgut, pressing into the finger’s
tip, made a ragged canyon,
the beaten sheen of a silver ring
around the pillared finger,
dark-tarnished runes
in its patterned crevices.
Nothing was too tiny for
my hungry eye,
nothing too finely etched.
I had grown weary of smooth
honed perfection, perceived from
a distance. Now, even the smallest
stroke of ink on paper was
deep enough to fold me in.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
Wonderful!!!!!
Thank you Umesh.
Yes, wonderful!
Thank you.
So true.
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
GOOD JOB SIR! i’LL NEVER LOOK AT MY FINGERNAILS THE SAME WAY AGAIN!
I agree. Thank you for the re-blog and comment Jonathan.
This poem reminds me of when I was small, yes. Yet this quality has never left me, and my husband and daughters share this trait: to notice what others fail to see. The shadows behind the light, the smallest of creatures, and yes, at least for me, the ripples on fingernails 😉 Likewise, the intent behind the facade. Great post, Ivon.
Thank you. As I read the poem and wrote, I thought of how our 2 year old grandson still experiences the world. Everything is so new to him and worth exploring.
What a beautiful picture you have drawn!
Thank you Darlene.
You’re welcome.