Between a robin and 13 stone people.

On a morning walk, I noticed a robin on a bridge. It was delightfully unafraid. At the edge of the bridge, someone had built a group of stone people — some smiling, some not — huddled together.

I stopped to look for a few moments. While imagining how they felt, I turned and noticed the robin had flown closer and was looking at me, waiting and gazing.

It reversed the direction of attention. Who was looking at who?

In that flash of an instant, it was clear I wasn’t the centre of the scene. I was simply part of it.

The nested perspectives activated awe, wonder, quiet joy: I was gazing at these stone figures while the robin was gazing at me. A reminder of why it’s almost impossible to feel lonely in nature.

The following days were energised, and conversations were more direct and lighter. There was more breathing room around reactions; and thoughts were quieter.

Martin Buber called this kind of experience an I–Thou relationship: meeting the other as alive and particular, rather than as an object fulfilling a role or function for my goals. The robin wasn’t just a cute bird to look at and serve my need for delight, but a being with its own world. I was an appearance in its world.

It takes a fraction of a second to turn a perspective on its head and allow for a different, clearer filter on experience and in relationship.

My teachers were a robin and 13 stone people that morning.

I wonder who yours are today.

Amina