The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings by KayLynn Deveney

On a trip to Wales to study photography and earn her graduate degree, KayLynn Deveney stumbled across Albert Hastings, and old man who lived alone in an apartment near where she was staying. In getting to know him, she realized that Albert was a truly unique individual who appreciated life's smaller moments. He agreed to work with her and be part of her photography project wherein she captured his life in delicate and artful photographs.

When I picked up this book, I fell instantly into Albert's existence. He does all of the things you and I do, but he does them with such intentional care and sweetness that I feel like maybe I have been missing something. Each page features one photograph of Albert undergoing one of his daily activities, and underneath in his own handwriting Albert describes what it is that he is doing. He has a sense of humor and manages to convey with brevity the essence of what the photograph is telling.

On a grander scale, I think this book is incredibly important. It speaks not only of the Buddhist theme of mindfulness but also of what is ailing American society. We all go so quickly through life in the pursuit of something...Albert has moved past that. Not because he is old but because he knows what really makes himself happy. He has embraced what has been given to him and realized the ephemerality of those things.

The other day, I was standing on the street. I looked down, and there was a tiny, wild bird just standing there next to me, not more than a foot away. I couldn't stop looking at him for some reason, and I started thinking about how swiftly this little bird's chest inhaled and exhaled and how rapidly he blinked. I felt as though his perception of time was so much different than mine, how everything was so drawn out for me, spread out over 80 years of life whereas this little bird's life was condensed into a brief chunk of time where everything must seem so much more significant. For a second, I felt really close to the bird, and when I reached down to touch it lightly on the head, it didn't move away until I stood up again. This reminded me of Albert. He must be the same as the bird, thinking about each action as an individual moment that should be savored and valued. It is when you allow time to pass unnoticed that you fall into state of unawareness. When you awake, so much will have happened that you won't have appreciated. Deveney teaches an important lesson here that everyone should pay attention to.