The Loveliness of Just Being

I have been trying really hard in recent years to be more mindful - especially with time.  Instead of always thinking of the next thing or place, I've been trying to make myself appreciate more the here and now.  It's not easy, as I generally have about 48 different things going on in my brain at any given time.  (Not necessarily big or important things, mind you.)  

But I have actually made a lot of progress, especially compared to when I started.  And yesterday was a perfect example of how nice it is when it works the way you would like it to work all of the time.

Here's the basic breakdown of my day:

• Got up
• Spent an hour or so just thinking, relaxing, reading, cuddling kitties
• Fixed and ate some breakfast, with a cup of tea
• Watched "CBS Sunday Morning," because I wanted to see the segment about Louise Penny
• Check e-mail, read blogs
• Cleaned up my breakfast stuff, and put on my sloppy clothes to do some garden work/sweeping up outside
• Put some flowers into flowerpots
• Put new topsoil on the planting areas in the front of the house and in the garden
• Put decorative rocks in both places
• Watered everything
• Took a shower
• Read a while
• Knitted a while
• Read some more
• Walked to the market for a few things
• Prepped a quiche for dinner and put it in the oven to cook
• Read some more
• Ate dinner
• Cleaned up dishes so The Tim could wash them
• Changed clothes to go to a concert
• Went to concert
• Came home, washed up, and put on my pjs
• Went to bed

OK, so that is likely more detailed than you cared or needed to know.  But I did in fact do all of those things.  And the list is kind of long.   Even so, each thing was done with actual mindfulness.  I managed to do each thing on its own, not multitasking, not rushing through one thing because I knew others were coming up, or that I wanted to specifically accomplish x number of things in the day.  Granted, the things highlighted in blue were slightly more easily done since The Tim took a really long nap in the afternoon, so I was completely left to my own devices, but I could have done them as well if he'd been around (he's just a "let's do so-and-so RIGHT now" kind of person).  

I enjoyed my day.  The weather was really nice, so being outside in the garden was extra enjoyable.  But as I was reviewing the day in my head as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I had been present during the whole day - the time when I was relaxing, reading, knitting, cooking, I was aware that not only was I doing it, but it was the only thing I was doing at the time.  And it felt nice, calming, and nothing felt like a chore.  

Maybe it's was the planets being properly aligned, because I have no delusions that this will be my life now.  But I have to tell you, it was really GOOD to experience just being.  And an even better feeling not to worry that I wasn't also doing ten other things, or planning all the things that should happen next.

In a word, it was lovely.  :-)

(Lake Gerar, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Photo by my niece Amanda)

*The concert, for those of you wondering (and I know I would be), was James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt, and it was worth every single cent we'd paid for the tickets!