Being present.

"Children have neither past nor future;
they enjoy the present, which very few of us do."

~Jean de la Bruyere

I'm realizing that it is a struggle and a joy to live in the moment...for me.

Even from when I wrote that first line, I picked up the phone, thought about checking something else online "real quick" and have a few tabs open on the browser. Yikes!

I've been reminded lately of the power and beauty of staying in the moment. Sticking with what I'm doing till it's done or till the next thing should start. Or not even "sticking to" something, but just being. I am at so much more peace when I do this and feel so much more connected to who I am with or the world around me.

The reminders of this have been simple, but ones I'd like to remember.

Time with an old friend. Sitting outside her house while two kids played and another slept. Just being. I'm pretty sure I felt inspired because, to me, she stays in the moment regularly. Even growing up and going to her house I always felt so un-rushed and present.

Watching a woman bring produce from her garden to a friend. Hearing her talk about her love for gardening. Listening as she told me about how the younger women in her neighborhood now come over to learn how to garden, share in the harvest, and to talk. She has her own chickens and gathers their eggs. One chicken just had babies and she passed a chick on to a neighbor who had wanted her own.

Regular picnics by the pier with Evee this summer. Laying in the sun (or sometimes lack-there-of), eating a simple lunch, rolling down the hill holding hands (until I'd get dizzy...then she was on her own). Watching the boats and watching Evee as she picked up sticks or grass or flowers (actually, they were just weeds).

I think this is why I love when I do certain activities that end up forcing, in a sense, me to be present. Having a date on the porch after Evee is asleep. Crafting - sewing, crocheting. Reading a book. Making bread from scratch - esp. the kneading process. Drinking tea/coffee with a friend. Gardening (the one year we had a garden before we moved). Playing a game (or our version of) with Evee.

And, this is why I need and want to do some of these more.

"We are always getting ready to live but never living." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson