Gathering Moss

Magnified tenfold, the complexity and detail of a single snowflake took me completely by surprise. How could something as small and ordinary as snow be so perfectly beautiful?

Mosses are the amphibians of the plant world. They are the evolutionary first step toward a terrestrial existence, a halfway point between algae and higher land plants.

Like the young of every species they escape the restrictions of their elders and seek out the freedom of the wide-open spaces.

Only a very small being can take advantage of such a thin and evanescent supply of moisture in the desert, living on dew.

In indigenous ways of knowing, all beings are recognized as non-human persons, and all have their own names. It is a sign of respect to call a being by its name, and a sign of disrespect to ignore it.

Having words for these forms makes the differences between them so much more obvious. With words at your disposal, you can see more clearly. Finding the words is another step in learning to see.

You can look at mosses the way you can listen deeply to water running over rocks. The soothing sound of a stream has many voices, the soothing green of mosses likewise.

To pass hurriedly by without looking is like walking by the Mona Lisa chatting on a cell phone, oblivious.

Mosses and other small beings issue an invitation to dwell for a time right at the limits of ordinary perception. All it requires of us is attentiveness.

But he said to watch out of the corner of your eye, open to possibility, and what you seek will be revealed