In Honor of Words

April is National Poetry Month, and today is the day Shakespeare was born — and probably died — which is a level of symmetry that would have delighted him.

I’m not a poet. I’m a guy with a podcast who thinks a lot about ordinary kindness. But I’ve come to believe that the best poetry and the best daily practice are after the same thing: making you see what’s already there. Slowing down enough that the ordinary moment reveals itself as extraordinary.

Here’s a small invitation for today: find one moment and describe it to yourself in better words than usual. Not flowery or dramatic — just more precise. The exact color of the light in the room right now. The specific way the coffee smells this morning. What Maple’s ears look like when she’s trying to understand something.

Precision is a form of attention. Attention is a form of love. You don’t need to be Shakespeare. You just need to notice more carefully.

Precision is a form of attention. Attention is a form of love.

What’s one small, ordinary thing you could describe more precisely today — really see it?