Slow down to notice delightful little wonders in our everyday

: on going by our days with our eyes and senses open, 11/24 new drawings (painting!), a new haiku (poem), and sounds of nature

HopeMail #135 | Twice a month on Fridays, I write and draw what’s on my mind lately about life, deriving insights from the ordinary mundane to the difficult days. This issue is the 11/24 new drawings for HopeMail. Counting down 13 more issues till we complete 24 new drawings in a year in October 2022. 🔖 I wrote a poem about my mum in the previous issue of HopeMail, titled “Away”.

I went up to the hills for a short getaway, to satisfy two cravings in one: long walks in a cooler climate.

It afforded me the environment to step out from the protective shell of buildings. And step into 360 degrees vast open space of nature. I can go for a stroll whenever I want, at almost any time of the day—sans sticky, uncomfortable sweat and rash-inducing heat. It was a change from the limited time of walking I have back home—when it’s slightly cooler in the late evenings or early mornings. 

Although the length of the walks presented tempting opportunities to catch up with podcasts, I chose to leave my Aftershokz¹ behind. And allowed my senses to be awakened by the songs of gibbons and birds, and the dance of butterflies. Every so often, I would be gladly stopped in my track, my eyes following the flash of colours, as a butterfly fluttered by. How delightful. How absolutely delightful.

Let a butterfly
or misty clouds and bird songs
stop you in your track.

A haiku²

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11/24 new drawing

A sketch from the hills 

When I started drawing again in 2021, I stumbled upon line drawing, using just a black fine liner pen. I love it. I also like using a pen for its practicality and portability. Watercolour? Too messy for me. Way more expensive! And I have to learn new things from scratch again. I held back.

But lately, I kept going back and forth wanting to try out watercolour as a possible medium for me. 

I’d see a gorgeous landscape and knew drawing it with colours would be amazing—on paper, and for my soul.

I had to try it. Abandon my reservations. Dive into new territory. And what a lovely time to start painting, when I went up to the hills, surrounded by the Creator’s creations.

Here’s my first watercolour sketch as an adult. The last time I did watercolour? I think I was less than ten years old!

Play the video below to hear the sound of insects and birds.

11/24 new drawings | what I’ve written on this sketchbook page is another story for another post. :) | #24newdrawingsforhopemail

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🏞 Bringing more sight and sound from the hills to you. Enjoy.

Captured this video snippet from one of the walks. Beautiful lush trees and sounds from the virgin forest.

More sounds from the virgin forest (audio-only video). Listen carefully to the calls of the gibbons!

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Wherever we are, we can always choose to slow down a moment to notice delightful little wonders in our everyday. 

Today, whether you are on your work commute, picking up your kids, looking around your office, looking out the window from your house, or walking around your neighbourhood, let your senses linger and see what you notice in those few minutes. Have fun.

That’s all for now, folks. Thanks for reading and being here. I’ll see you in my next issue on April 15, 2022.

💖 Melinda

PS I’d love to hear from you what you’ve noticed. Feel free to snap a photo, snatch a quick sketch, or pen down some sentences, and share with me by leaving a comment or reply to this email. 

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1. Open ear bone conduction technology headphone.

2. A type of short-form poetry originally from Japan.