Early this year, I wrote a backstory to this blog. The story was written in two parts. Part one told of a few culminating experiences that lead to my ‘aha’ moment. Part two shared a bit about my personal journey. The stories were tangled, as all good stories are – so many moving parts and pieces.
The short version of my aha moment was in response to a school year that included two suicide deaths. After receiving the news the second time, I paced my kitchen floor and questioned the silence, ‘what do we do?’ The answer I received was, ‘Life. Sell life.’
The story goes on to tell that I realized I was not alive. I was not living. I had been experiencing a cycle of depression that would come and go every two weeks, and it had gone on for over a decade. I realized that if I could figure out the skills to get my own life back, then I would know the skills to teach others. The skills that worked. The skills that contributed toward life and sustainable growth. Lasting.
I have been out of the cycle for over three years. What I share in published content is my experience of skills, tools, and strategies that work for me.
This year I gave each month a theme to focus my content. The month of May has been about endings and beginnings. Every ending is a new beginning. One of the MANY mantras I have on replay in my mind. When one practices self-awareness, one begins to notice the many daily segments that include endings and beginnings.
Morning routines. Bathing routines. Work routines. Meals. Chores. Exercise. Events. The list goes on and on. Each segment includes a cycle. A beginning and an ending. This is the ordinary experience of life and physical existence.
What makes an ordinary day extraordinary is recognizing, and being present to, the space between.
Insert the magic of slowing down. Insert the magic of attunement. Insert the magic of taking time to calibrate to the essence of one’s aliveness. To be fully present allows one to access the whole of their being.
Being. Allowing.
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? The experience of savoring a moment. Noticing, and being present to, the sensual experience of what is happening – to taste, to smell, to feel, to hear, to see. To savor. So much goodness. So extraordinary are the moments when we wake up to what is.
We are the storyteller of what we experience. We apply the filter.
To appreciate something is to give it value. When a home appreciates, it grows in value. When we take the time to appreciate the ordinary, the space between, it appreciates. The space grows. It becomes extraordinary. This is the intended space to live from. The space is likely to inspire action, but it does not require action.
You have a way of being exactly who you are. When you are attuned to it, it feels good. Feeling good is our natural state, that is why it feels good.
This week I heard a reference to the savoring of life like licking an ice cream cone. You don’t eat the ice cream cone all at once – what would be the point? You lick it.
day. 