last sunday i told myself
i told my brain – this week pay attention
to the little things nobody notices,
the small ways people keep going,
the beauty hiding in everyday struggle.

i thought i would have to keep reminding myself all week,
stay sharp so that i notice
that was the plan.

but i forgot,
completely.
by monday morning it was gone from my mind,
like i never said it.

and now here i am – another sunday – looking back
and i can name them without even trying

a friend waking up in the same heavy body and still making coffee for someone he love.
someone crying in a bathroom and still fixing her face just to walk back out.
someone who thought they’d never laugh again cracking a smile in the middle of hell.
Izabela pausing halfway through her rush to move a snail off the sidewalk.
the cashier slipping a candy into a crying child’s hand without saying a word.

the brain listens!
even when you stop – it doesn’t
once you tell it what to look for it keeps scanning quietly.
noticing, collecting.
you only need to say it once
and it will keep showing you.