there is something about the jungle that doesn’t support rushing. it demands that you slow down.
watch how nature behaves. have you ever watched a sloth? it barely moves, yet somehow you can tell it is fully present. there is no sense of urgency, no need to get somewhere faster, no desire to be doing something else.
nature has a way of bringing us to a stop. we don’t even have to try.
when we pause, we start to notice everything around us. the sounds, the movement in the trees, the insects, the birds, the changing light, the smallest details we would normally walk right past.
i have found myself becoming less and less interested in looking at my cellphone. there is simply too much beauty to behold.
in fact, i’ve had moments while taking pictures when i’ve stopped and thought, this doesn’t even do it justice. i’m trying to capture real life through a device, but something gets lost in the process.
because real life isn’t digital.
a photograph can show you what something looks like, but it can’t capture the feeling of standing there. it can’t recreate the sounds, the air against your skin, the stillness, or the feeling of being completely immersed in a moment.
we have become so accustomed to documenting our lives that sometimes we forget to actually experience them.
perhaps the invitation isn’t to capture everything, but to allow ourselves to be captured by the experience itself.
to look up. to listen. to notice. to stay a little longer.
the jungle reminds me that life is happening right here, without needing to be recorded, shared or turned into something.
the most meaningful thing we can do is put the phone away and be where our feet are.
ready to press the pause in the jungle?
