So I sat down a while ago at “our” neighborhood coffee shop in southeast Philly to write some sort of philosophical-inspirational blog post about the year gone by and the year coming up.
Then I started taking pictures of my wife (with my to-die-for brand-spankin’-new iPhone).
And of course had to post a pic on Facebook (see photo, left).
And then the comments began … which I easily ignored on my computer b/c I use this freakin’ amazing strip-away-all-on-screen-distractions writing program called OmmWriter.
But unfortunately OmmWriter doesn’t wrestle the iPhone outta your hands… so I used my “smart”phone to attend to the urgent (ahem) Facebook comments…for 15 minutes.
And then the coffee was just so damn good that I had to go downstairs to get a refill.
Of course I spilled a little of that caffeinated gold on the way back upstairs, so had to do a quick napkin mop up to spare any patron slippage. (I’m a very well-trained consumer).
And then I typed a little bit and it was ehhh so I deleted it all and stared at the screen for a while.
Then I chatted with my wife for a few minutes. And we laughed about something (or more likely nothing).
Then I looked up the lyrics to “Feelin’ Good” because it was playing over the coffeeshop speakers and it made my heart dance.
And then I typed a little more.
And deleted it all.
And then it hit me…
I was having trouble writing about the past or the future because fully experiencing those present moments was more delicious and captivating than the tasks of remembering yesterday or hoping for tomorrow.
And that, my dears, is what I hope we can all take into 2011 — that each present moment is the most important thing to notice, to pay attention to, and to write about.
That each present moment gives us a chance to choose how to work, how to love, and how to live.
2012 — a gazillion present moments never before lived by you, me, or anyone. Oh yeah!
Cue “I’m Feelin’ Good” (Michael Buble, James Bond style)
Birds flyin’ high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel
Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life for me
yeah, its a new dawn its a new day its a new life for me ooooooooh
AND I’M FEELING GOOD
2012 — Bring. It. ON!
Mir said,
January 1, 2012 at 8:25 am
Oh, Starshine, you sound like a writer who is moving into “the second half of life,” as Richard Rohr so adorably names it. We either panic when we begin to realize the brevity of life, or we realize, more and more, the magic of savoring a moment — the one we have now. I still experience both, perhaps we all do, but the effects of living _now_ (even the long-term effects) are becoming clearer.
Starla J. King said,
January 1, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Ah, so beautifully stated, Mir. For me it’s a combination of realizing the brevity of life and also realizing how much more incredible my current life is when I pay the utmost attention to the HERE and NOW. to the details of life. It truly is magical.