Get in Action

I spend far too much attention of my morning train ride just staring out at the trees. As the woods roll past the window, I find myself obsessing over the shape of the forest, how the branches break up the morning light, how thick moss gathers in the damp hollows, and the sharp way the early sun cuts through the pine needles. I'll catch myself leaning closer to the glass, thinking, “That looks like a nice spot.”

I got this habit from picking chanterelles with my grandfather. When you walk in the woods with someone who really knows nature, the forest starts to make sense, almost like a code you can read. You quickly learn that this 'forest gold' does not just grow anywhere, it prefers hidden, secret spots. You look for entry points into the forest, places where a local farmer has driven in with his tractor and left narrow tracks in the dirt. These heavy wheels tear up the ground, creating damp, sheltered hollows where the moss grows just right. You also learn to tell dry ground apart from the cool spots under mixed birch and spruce trees, where yellow chanterelles love to hide beneath the fallen leaves.

Walking in the woods with our eyes open for something, we had a purpose in mind, we saw the forest in a completely different way and I call it the 'action-mode'. This mode allows you to experience the world around you in a far more richer and colorful way. I believe this phenomenon extends far beyond picking chanterelles.

When we are in action-mode, we see details in our surroundings that we otherwise miss.
The surfer becomes an expert at the weather, the tiler inspects tiles in the bathrooms he visits with great interest, and the home cook notices details in a meal or in the menu that inspires his next attempt at home.
In contrast, when we are trapped in the passive consumption-mode, we’re blind to these details. We we’re blind to these details. We glide past a muted, monotone world while the rich textures that make life so interesting blur right past the window unnoticed.

The beauty of this is that the lens is entirely ours to adjust. The moment we step out of passive observation/or consumption-mode and into active engagement action-mode, the world around us sharpens into rich colorfulness. Life passes by quickly, it’s up to us to make the most of it. By reflecting on this, I hope to push myself out of consumption-mode and into action-mode to experience as much of life as possible at the highest brightness and volume. Even something as mundane as a morning commute.

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.
- Theodore Roosevelt