I’m traveling for a few days. My daughter and I loaded ourselves up for a road trip, just us two, to meet up with a beloved friend and her daughter in South Carolina. It’s magic to have this time with her, especially when I reflect on her age—16—and how few years we may have before she flies the nest. So I’ll keep this post short and sweet because I want to savor this time.
Savoring life’s abundance has been an essential practice for me recently. Life is moving quickly for me these days and I don’t want to miss it. Yes, indeed, life is fleeting. We live countless moments and yet none will be exactly like this one. This realization seems so obvious, yet even that awareness is fleeting. I forget to notice much of the time. The awareness that this time, this season, this trip, this sweetness can only be carried forward as a memory makes me pause and drink it in with all of my senses.
Right now, I am sitting outside with the sun warming my back. A cool breeze is washing over my skin. The smell of bacon and pancakes, campfires and coffee fills my nose. My ears take in the sizzle from the griddle, my daughter’s voice, the flap of a flag in the wind. In the square of my world as I sit here I can see two dragonflies circling the picnic table where Ava sits with her friend eating the #16 pancake that was made especially for her. She’s smiling, the sky is blue, sea grass waves behind her.
There’s not much to this moment but it’s all out of our ordinary, and when I sit here taking life in with all of my senses it feels abundant. A celebration of this time. The joy this cultivates is surely building resilience, a sense of safety and ease in my nervous system, and a slower rhythm to balance the hurried pace of life’s demands.
Pause now and take in the moment you’re in with each of your senses. One minute for each of your senses is enough to seal it in and celebrate. Our brains lean toward the negativity bias. Fear and fast-paced living steal my joy more often than I like. So I know it’s essential that I make this practice part of my daily rhythm. I remind myself, it takes a full 30-90 seconds of drinking in the joy to create a memory in my brain and body.
For the next month, as we transition from summer to fall, I hope you’ll join me in pausing to create opportunities for joy. There are many barriers against it. Let’s build some bridges that help us cross back into the gift of joyful presence again and again.
A short meditation gift of time and attention friends…