About a year ago I started taking close-up photos of flowers and leaves I see in nature in the place where I have been living since the beginning of October 2023. I was inspired by my private teacher of Russian, who shared a few close-up photos of local flowers with me around that time.
Initially I only intended to share these photos with my close friends in Jerusalem. But some of them, and the microcosm they revealed, were so amazing that I couldn't help showing them to local people I bumped into on the street.
These flowers and leaves must be very familiar to them, but many of them were also amazed to see them in these close-up photos of mine. Some might even have realized, though probably unconsciously, that they had been looking at these flowers and leaves their entire lives without ever truly seeing them.
In retrospect, this almost daily habit of showing these photos to local people seems to have led to another daily habit of giving three more small things - spontaneous jokes, genuine compliments, and/or my favorite candy - to them spontaneously. Yes, I plan spontaneity in advance. ;-)
I didn't plan any of this, but strangely and quite surprisingly, I now feel that the more I gave, the more I unconsciously felt like giving. What began as a simple desire to share uncontainable joy with others has turned into what feels like a more natural flow of energy with less and less hindrance.
You may wonder what kind of energy I have in mind here. Actually, I'm asking myself the same question now. ;-) I would say that it is the energy of presence, which is the common denominator of these four small things I share with others face to face.