Paying attention to things

Lessons on expanding the moment

In an extract of the poem Sometimes, Mary Oliver writes:

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

For the past six months, I’ve been collecting moments that astonish me, make me laugh, or lead me to ponder—and sharing them with my paid subscribers.

While I’ve long kept notes on my phone about things I’ve noticed, this more …