In The Moment

I've been spending some time reading these days.  Reading articles, blogs, short stories, news... basically anything short I can get my hands on while I take breaks from work.

Its been great...

There is just so much out there. I know we hear this phrase all the time, but sometimes we really do need to stop and think about it.

Today was basically reading a lot on Oprah's website (she has some great articles), and an old high school classmate's blog. 

And today's lesson is: Living in the present.

As in, living in the right now, this instant, this moment, this breath I'm taking, this computer screen I'm staring at, these gummies I'm munching on (and I really shouldn't be...)

And I'm not promoting irresponsible behavior and living like you will live forever, but I have to admit, sometimes I'm just not there and I'm sure a lot of us are guilty of this. I mean, I'm baking cookies and brownies with two lovely kids and I'm thinking about homework; I'm thinking about waking up early to go to the gym; 'm thinking of how he hurt me; I'm thinking of eating the cookies and the calories that come with it; I'm thinking of work the next day; I'm thinking of old friends I miss; I'm thinking of finding a new apt; I'm thinking of it all....

And after my readings, including a powerful blog post about my classmate's best friend loosing her life, I decided I need to live in the moment.

A related aside:

I have to admit, I get pretty frustrated by the crowds in this city. I don't like slow walkers and I don't like people being in my way. Being that today is St. Patrick's day, it was pretty impossible to avoid the sea of drunken green in my way....

Walking to school, trying to maneuver the crowd and avoid getting cigarette smoke blown in my face, I was ready to start pushing drunken strangers out of my way.

Then I see an old lady in a wheelchair...

She kept having to stop in the middle of the street to avoid getting run into. See the thing about this city is that people NEVER move out of your way. You could be carrying three suitcases and a baby and the person walking towards you will expect you to move out of their way. And that's what this poor lady was having to deal with.

Just watching her patience calmed me down...

And I was grateful that I had the ability to actually walk

So its the end of the day and I decided to do an experiment

I'm going to live in the moment. Starting tomorrow morning, I'm going to make a very conscious effort to just be in the now

And that means:

Move through my day doing what I need to do and just be in that moment. It means  that breakfast in the morning won't be rushed but will be me with my cheerios and the morning sun. It means that as I'm draping my shift dress, I'm not thinking about patterning, I'm not thinking about how long its taking me; I'm not thinking about the building closing; and I'm not thinking about class on Monday. Instead, I'll just be there - smoothing the muslin over the dress form, creating darts and pleats, marking and cutting and appreciating that exact moment

So thats my challenge for tomorrow. Just living in the now...