I’m not talking about listening with your ears, although that’s important, too. I’m referring to the kind of listening you do with your being. Those little messages that sometimes come when you’re not expecting them, and you want to ignore them or brush them off. Those times when “something” tells you to do something and you tell yourself you’re just being silly.

I had a little encounter with that the other day. Call it instinct, soul, consciousness, or whatever you like, it happens. And it’s in your best interest to listen to it. I had gone to the park the day before and discovered that one of my zoom lenses wasn’t focusing properly. So I researched how to adjust it, which I have never done before, and attempted to correct the problem. I went out in the backyard to test it, but really wanted a moving subject, and birds are scarce in the backyard this time of year. I decided to make a stop by the park on my way to the grocery store, just to see if the adjustments I made worked. I spent a half hour or so shooting ducks and geese and was satisfied that the focus was at least better, if not perfect. Then I went to the store to pick up a few items.

After I finished my shopping, I was heading back to the car when all of a sudden “something” told me to go back to the park. I had already been gone almost an hour and really thought I should go home, but the urge to go back to the park wouldn’t be silenced. Okay, I thought, but just for a few minutes.

I wasn’t there for more than a few minutes when I saw, not one, not two, but THREE otters swimming about the lake. I knew there were otters living here, and I had even seen one on a few occasions, but never three. And never in decent light or close enough to the shore to get a good shot. And they always just surfaced and then swam away very quickly. On this particular afternoon, they stayed near shore and caught fish after fish. As I sat there watching, the three of them caught and devoured at least five fish! All in the span of 30 or 40 minutes!

This one even came out of the water, sat on the ice and posed for me for a few minutes. These creatures are normally very shy and I have never managed to get a decent photo of one, much less several. And to think, if I hadn’t obeyed that mysterious urge to go back to the park, I would have missed a very special opportunity.

Being logical and practical has served me well many times in my life. I know how to do that. Now I need to learn how to be more impulsive. To listen to those urges and smack down that all-powerful, logical, practical self and let the childlike, spontaneous self have a little fun. And that is my resolution for 2014.