Being Present

We are in that sweet spot of the holidays between Hannukah or Christmas and New Year’s Day. Time slows down. All the frantic shopping for a tree, gifts, wrapping paper, various accoutrement, baking supplies, groceries has culminated in gift-giving, feasting and celebrations.

Somewhere between -when all the dishes are done and the leftovers are stored safely in containers, the tablecloth and napkins washed and ironed and put away for next year –and- the anticipation of a champagne-fizzled New Year -lies a pocket of time. Christmas-POCKET- New Year’s.

If I could give you a gift, it would be an appreciation of this time. A breath. A sigh. It seems as human beings we are always in a state of either reminiscing about the past or anticipation for the future. I’ve read it again and again from all the master gurus and philosophers, but I’m just beginning to process it. Now is it. This is all we really have. The rest is memory or speculation. Be present in your now. We have the gift of being the observer. I am trying to use it.

Some of my present. My daughter’s face. It fills me with joy. Every time I see it. Every time. My grown son’s little boy cackle. He makes me laugh like no one else. Sitting and looking at the ocean, holding a cup of coffee, my husband beside me.  When I look, I am trying to really see. When I breathe, I am trying to feel the breath.

This is just one moment. One pocket of time that will make memory. My sweet spot.

What are you doing right now? Make it sweet.