Welcome to “Life in the Real World”. The world of humans is such a weird and sometimes confusing place but right outside my door I find the world of nature has a realness to it, an ordinary magic with everyday miracles.

This newsletter will be full of photos and reflections on what nature teaches me every day about beauty, wonder and living in the world. I hope you will find it grounding, meditative, sometimes illuminating and full of genuine curiosity about this strange thing we call Life.

Here are some of my favorite posts:

Life in the Real World

Many Ways to Pray

The spiritual traditions tell us there are many ways to pray. I resonate with Mary Oliver in her poem, “The Summer Day”: I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all …

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2 years ago · 25 likes · 40 comments · Karen Davis

Life in the Real World

Soft as a Feather

It’s 7:30 AM, the morning after Christmas and most of the world around me is still asleep. The sun is about to peek over the horizon, the temperature is just above freezing and there’s a very light breeze from the east/southeast. The only birds nearby are the crows behind me and some ring-billed gulls diving and chasing each other across the cove. In th…

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2 years ago · 26 likes · 27 comments · Karen Davis

Life in the Real World

The Cootie Portal

It’s a cold morning, just below freezing. Most of the lake has melted but the edges and the coves, where the water is shallow, have a thin layer of ice. I’ve taken my seat on the ground in a cove with a small hill behind me that graciously blocks the north wind. A layer of ice covers about 20 feet of ice between me and the open water. The sun will rise …

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2 years ago · 18 likes · 23 comments · Karen Davis

Life in the Real World

This is Why

“This is why", she thought to herself, breathing in the closeness. "This is why I have been longing to sit on the ground." Listening to his tiny squeaks, noticing the faint remains of his baby stripes. Watching as he dove and rose and dove again without moving further away. He jumped towards her as if something had goosed him from beneath the water and …

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a year ago · 28 likes · 22 comments · Karen Davis

Life in the Real World

Smiles in the Ice

She's got a smile that it seems to me Reminds me of childhood memories Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky…” (Guns N’ Roses, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”) Ice in the light of the rising sun is one of my favorite forms of beauty to photograph. It requires just the right conditio…

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8 months ago · 34 likes · 30 comments · Karen Davis

I’ve been walking in a county park near my home in Kansas City, Missouri for nearly a decade. I’ve heard the term “becoming native to place” and perhaps that’s what I’m doing. I want to know “all my relations” as the native people so beautifully say and I’ve come to know many of their ways, their habits, their attitudes and their beauty. I hope my newsletter offers moments to pause and encourages others to notice all the beings in their own world.

Why subscribe?

I hope my newsletter conveys a sense of connection, groundedness and that there’s more going on than often meets the eye of media and social media. My intent is to share the beauty and wisdom of nature with all, especially knowing so many do not have access on a regular basis.

My weekly photo essays are free to all users and I offer a paid subscription for those that want to support what I’m doing and receive regular “drops of beauty” in their email. I am genuinely grateful for all readers and supporters!

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