Back in 2020, in the early months of the pandemic, I ended up self-isolating in a one-room cabin in the woods for two weeks.

Every morning I would get up, sit outside and let the world get up around me.

I watched the woodchuck, who foraged delicious leaves. There was a family of racoons, spooked when they saw me and scampered up a tree. There were two squirrels who lived their frenetic lives.

And there was the song sparrow.

Until now I had never got to know a wild bird personally, able to pick it out from a crowd. Never had I recognized a particular bird’s song.

But this song sparrow, with its raspy voice and daily routine, changed all that.

There’s this distance between them – what we call nature – and us. We’re the heroes; the birds and the animals are the bit players.

We’re too busy doing our thing – too busy in our heads – to notice everyone else.

Only when I stopped my life did I alter my outlook—from me and them… to us.

The two of us shared our home.

Knowing that was one more step towards truly being there.