A Story of Attention

Dear Friends,

Earlier this December, I sat with two hundred others, rapt, as a magenta blossom from a coyote willow glided across stone on the back of an ant—like a pink sail over its tiny body. Terry Tempest Williams was telling a story of attention. As the ant finally reached the cliff at the edge of her patio, three others emerged as if by some silent cue. Together, they lifted the blossom while the porter scurried safely down, then placed the flower back in its charge, and off it went.

I sit here, weeks later, still riveted, as if the stone patio in Terry’s story were the very stage from which she offered this invitation to attention. I am present, all at once, to the ant’s journey, to Terry’s reverent telling of it, and to this moment in which I write, which reminds me, yet again: when we allocate our attention fully to the present moment, we touch all moments and all possibilities. And here, we can accept the invitation to make something of them.

The turning of the year extends its own invitation to attend to moments past, present, and possible. It was just after the new year five years ago, in 2020, that The Merwin Conservancy became the stewards of W.S. Merwin and Paula Merwin’s palm garden and home, and began sharing our monthly Stories from the Garden. What I wrote in one of the first entries feels as vital now as it did then:

Our vision for this place is to share it in ways that nurture imagination and attention as habits of mind, as practices. Our approach will have to meander around our present challenges, and will be all the more intentional for it.

It is through our collective care that this special place will continue to serve as a reminder of what is possible when, together, we offer and sustain our attention.

With warm wishes,
Sonnet