Scraps, Lived Whole

The cardinal built her nest in the gut of the hedge beside the fence, half-hidden and wholly relentless. She did not hesitate. She did not consider alternatives. She worked. She gathered what the world discarded. A plastic thread, a root torn loose by rain, the wrapper of something sweet. She worked the scraps into shelter with the kind of precision that doesn’t ask to be admired.

The cardinal builds its nest with the same fierce attention I want to bring to this single, irreplaceable day.

That’s all I want. Not transcendence. Not insight. Attention. I want to live a whole day without abandoning it halfway through. I want to live like the bird. With focus so complete the world disappears behind the task. She doesn't question the hour. She doesn't need purpose to begin. The sky lightens. She builds.

It is not peace I’m after. It’s not quiet, either. It’s presence, and presence is full of sharp corners. The air stirs. The sink drips. The news screeches. The body complains. Still, I stand here. Still, I make eggs. Still, I fold the towel and set it back on its hook. This is not performance. It is not therapy. It is life, unremarkable and irreplaceable.

IAMday is not a day to change your life. It’s a day to recognize you already have one. You are breathing in it. You are wiping crumbs off the table in it. You are letting the dog out and pulling hair from the drain in it. The sacred does not need your worship. It needs your hands.

There is no meaning waiting for you at the end of this day. The meaning is built into the action. Make tea. Feel the heat. Sit down. Be there when your eyes land on the floor. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.

IAMday is not a holiday. It’s a test. Will you show up to your own life?

Outside, the cardinal drops into her nest, settles. Her work is not finished. It never is. But for now, she’s there.

And so am I.

Join us at IAMday.org

Thanks for reading IAMday!

Please share with others that want to show up…

By: Joe Nichols

Joe Nichols is the irreverent reverend behind Beautiful Heresy on Substack, where he writes with heart, wit, and just enough troublemaking to keep things interesting. He pokes at the edges of belief, beauty, and what it means to be human—with a laugh, a question, and the occasional holy contradiction