On Seeing

One of the topics that recurs in my philosophical ruminations, dicsussions with close friends, and reading, is that of the importance of inteltionality.  It is who I am when walking, when working in the kitchen, and who I am when bird watching.  I've just picked-up Simon Barnes book, "How to be a bad bird watcher: To the greater glory of life."  In it I came across this compelling descripiton of what I mean:

"The only real skill involved in this perfect birdwatching moment [ed. he has just seen a hobby dive into a flock of purple martins] was the willingness to look.  It was not skill that gave me the sight; it was habit.  I have the developed the habit of looking: when I see a bird I always look, wherever I am.  It is no longer conscious decision...I once found a questionnaire in a birdwatching magazine.  It asked: 'How often do you go birdwatching?'  I reject the question out of hand.  I don't go birdwatching.  I am birdwatching.  Birdwatching is a state of being, not an activity...It is a matter of keep the eyes and ears and mind open."

It is delaying any conclusion about where you are or what is happening, and living in a sort of hope of what might happen.  It is to live life always asking the question, always expecting an answer, and sometimes getting one.

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