Fifteen years ago, actor Lili Taylor took a sabbatical and spent time at her house in upstate New York. There, in the quiet, she started to listen. As she writes, "I started to hear birds. It was as if I'd switched my studio input from one dimension to Dolby stereo." It changed her perception of the world. In her new book of essays Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing, she writes about her encounters with the natural world, what she has gained by paying attention to her surroundings, and how her connection with nature helps her find peace and calm.