English 16/6/25 |

I love going for walks in nature, especially in spring when I have the chance to smell the flowers, feel the texture of different kinds of leaves, and enjoy the fresh air around me. I often pause to take pictures of flowers or anything that catches my attention while I’m in explorer mode. But recently, I noticed that I’ve been going on these walks with my earbuds in, listening to music or a podcast. Yes, I feel super happy when I listen to music I like or to an episode that enlightens me, but I also feel disconnected from the outside world, as if I’m missing out on the beauty around me.

Three weeks ago, I was trying to think of a prompt for my writing group in Brno, so I pulled a card from my Wish deck that said, “Take a bird’s-eye view of your Wish.” I closed my eyes and, even though I didn’t have a specific wish in mind, I imagined myself as a bird flying over my neighborhood. I could see it all: beautiful gardens full of flowers, trees I had never noticed before, children running in the playground, birds nesting, dogs barking.

When I opened my eyes, I realized how much I had been missing. Yes, I go for walks, I go to the park—but I couldn’t remember the last time I was truly present, feeling amazed by the little details of my surroundings. That’s when the inspiration hit me: I wanted our next writing session to adress the magic and beauty of the world. But in order for us to fully connect with our senses, instead of writing from our minds, I wanted to do something special.

Firstly, I wrote the names of different landscapes on Post-it notes (one per piece of paper) and had everyone draw one without looking before starting the writing session. Each person had to connect with the beauty of the place they received. Among the options were: rainforest, desert, ocean, flower field, river, moon, and mountains.

Secondly, we did a short visualization, imagining ourselves in those landscapes and flying over them. I guided them with questions: What can you see? How do you feel? Do you like where you are? Is it scary? Is it beautiful? Are there any colors, any flavors, any sounds?

Little by little, everyone opened their eyes and began pouring their hearts onto paper, feeling the beauty in those places and connecting deeply with their emotions.

When it came time to share, you could feel that the energy in the room shifted: we were present with one another, which allowed to see the beauty of the world through each other’s eyes. We got to feel what it’s like to sleep in the desert, to look at the Earth from the moon, or to feel the heavy rain in a rainforest. We could see and feel it all. And thanks to the presence of my fellow writers, I felt more awake and aware than ever.

Now I ask you: What would you like the world to see?

(And if you are wondering, I took the picture above on my summer holidays at the Argentinian coast in 2021. I looked up and I saw the trail that the trees were forming and it seemed to me that they were dancing so beautifully!) That’s a little gift to all of us from my country✨