Meditation and the practice of being present do not come easily for me. My mind is literally swimming from the time my head hits the pillow at night, through one REM cycle after another, until my eyelids open in the morning (if they haven’t already opened multiple times in the darker early morning hours).
This weekend, my sweetie has been in town, so I have been delightfully, if not deliriously distracted from the doom and gloom of a government shutdown.
Mortgages, student loans, what are those to a woman in love?
Long distance is difficult enough without throwing in a financial crisis.
You know the saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, yesterday we supported the local option.
We went apple picking.
Blue sky and sun, dark clouds, drizzle, downpour, wind. We experienced it all and still managed to bring home two heaping bags of full apples, cider donuts, and apple cider.
Three and half days. Not quite the same as sharing a life in proximity, but it is all we can manage while still living multiple thousands of miles apart.
And I am thankful for these moments together. They fill me up.
I know I can keep myself busy with projects—writing, composing, swimming, cleaning, and emptying my apartment of one material possession after another.
There is meaning in each of these practices, but it is a different kind than what I experience in sharing my life with another person and feeling shared in theirs.
And now, alone again, I am doing my best not to feel completely empty. I have one cat on my lap and another asleep at my feet. I am loved, and I have so much love to give to the world.
I will continue to practice the art of being present, to write, to listen to the sounds of traffic outside my window, and to be thankful for who I am and where I am while sending energy and intention out into the universe for where I hope to be someday.
life of m 