I have had a few really wonderful weeks. I travelled with my sister to a wedding in Montreal and had so much fun there exploring, eating, walking and spending time with good friends.
Getting out of our everyday lives can be a wonderful break sometimes; mixing things up, fresh surroundings, unique experiences.
And as grateful as I am for being able to head out on adventures like this one, there is something equally wonderful to opening your own front door, and arriving home.
With back to school, more routines now fall in place and it feels good to be present and feel this experience, too.
And that is what I consider to be the key to it all - no matter the experience, it is about enjoying being in the moment...even the simplest of them.
Sometimes we can feel like our normal day-to-day activities are boring and repetitive, but it is in this simple moment to moment awareness, when we are not looking for something to be different, we can really tune into what is real.
“The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.” ― Jon Kabat-Zinn
I have been really enjoying the simplicity of life.
Feeling the Fall air, making videos, laughing, eating nachos, working, driving, sitting on a bench people watching. Noticing how it feels to be in my body as I experience all of these experiences.
All very different activities but what they have in common is – when I am present they feel more alive to me.
Joy, beauty and connection come when we are in the moment. Not the past or the future.
For me, focusing on the past or the future created stress, depression, anxiety, and a lack of fulfillment for a big chunk of my life. I wasn’t connected to life or who I really was.
Now, I’m having fun exploring as much of the moment as I am aware of and when I notice I’m not in the moment this is perfect too because I can then choose to be present again.
Why does it matter?
For me – this is living. The simplest of moments become special, alive.
No longer looking for something bigger or greater because everything is full and complete in THIS moment.
We can all do this.
We can either wake up and live our day on autopilot - or wake up and explore noticing the simple moment-to-moment experiences.
Not all moments are joyful. They can be hard, disappointing, emotional. This is life, too. And the practice of mindfulness is to be gentle as we practice being present with these experiences as well.
We can’t control what happens on the outside but we can train the mind to be present and aware of our experience. This is the gift.
xo Diane