Open your eyes.
Not wide,
Not searching.
Just enough to let the morning in.
Before the day tells you who to be,
Choose where you place your attention.
Imagine you're holding a small dial in your hand,
The kind used to adjust focus on an old camera.
Right now the lens is set to wide.
Everything is visible at once.
Responsibilities,
Noise,
Expectations,
The long stretch of the day ahead.
Gently turn the dial.
Watch the edges soften as the picture zooms in.
Let your attention land on one small thing near you.
Not the most impressive thing,
Not the thing that deserves admiration,
Just something ordinary.
Perhaps it's a patch of light on the wall or the texture of fabric.
Just stay with it.
Notice how much detail appears when you stop scanning and you start looking.
Zoom in further.
See the subtle variations,
Shadows within light,
Warmth within color,
Movement within stillness.
This is not about forcing beauty,
It's about allowing yourself to see what's already there.
Now imagine that this small thing is the only thing that exists for a moment.
The rest of the world hasn't disappeared,
It's just out of frame.
Notice how your body responds.
The nervous system doesn't need to manage everything at once.
It can rest inside one clear point of focus.
Take a slow breath in and let it out.
Now shift your attention to something else small.
Perhaps this time it's a sensation in your body or perhaps it's your chest moving as you breathe or maybe it's the feeling of your feet touching the floor or the weight of your hands.
These are quiet signals of being alive,
Often overlooked because they don't shout.
Zoom in.
Notice how grounding it feels to be precise instead of broad,
Present instead of scattered.
Now imagine your day ahead as a wide landscape again.
Meetings,
Conversations,
Tasks,
Movement.
Doesn't everything feel overwhelming when everything's taken in at once?
Recognize this for a second.
Realize that actually it's our scattered minds that causes the inner turmoil,
Not necessarily the tasks we have to do.
Gently turn the dial again.
This time picture yourself moving through the day one small frame at a time.
One conversation,
One step,
One moment of attention,
Not the full weight of expectation.
Here are a few little reminders which may help you navigate throughout your day.
You can zoom in on the sound of a voice instead of the meaning behind the words.
You can zoom in on the physical sensation of walking instead of the destination.
You can zoom in on what is here instead of what is next.
Perspective changes experience and beauty doesn't vanish on difficult days,
It just gets smaller,
Quieter and easier to miss.
But when you know how to look,
It's everywhere,
Tucked into ordinary moments,
Waiting for attention rather than effort.
Now return your attention to your breath.
One inhale and one exhale.
The simplest zoom of all.
Let this be your practice today,
Not to change the entire picture but to adjust the focus when needed,
To remember that how you see determines how you move.
And when you're ready,
Carry this lens with you into the morning.
The day doesn't need to be smaller,
Your attention just needs to be a little more clear.
