Being Present

I watched some of the Oscars last night but didn't stay up until the bitter end. It would be nice if one year I had actually seen a couple of the movies.

My parents were big film buffs. They especially loved older movies such as North by Northwest, Rear Window, Bridge on The River Kwai and on and on. I really think I could give up televison (but not "Lost") if I could watch more great movies.

So after I turned the tv off I laid in bed and could not get to sleep. I should never have had that chocolate chip cookie after dinner. I started writing this blog in my head which was flowing so beautifully I couldn't seem to stop it. It was as if it was writing itself. After five minutes I started thinking "wow....that is an amazing post..it is just pouring out of me". Kind of like in Jerry Macguire when he has had too much bad pizza and gets that great idea to write a mission statement which then gets him fired. Before I got too carried away and reminded myself I wasn't Diablo Cody (won the Oscar for best screenplay for Juno) I was sure I could remember enough of it to write it all down the next morning. Well, the harsh, cold light of a Monday morning did remind me that I am not Diablo Cody and what I did recall of my "amazing blog" kind of sucked. But since I do remember bits and pieces here goes:

I had a wild and wacky weekend. Saturday morning I went into the office with John to help him out if you call "cleaning the office" helping out. Around 2pm we met our friends Joe (he is one of my most favourite people) and Anna at a local restaurant for a fundraiser of sorts for the Orillia Wind Ensemble. They served a great lunch, we shared a few laughs and were treated to a solo performance by the Ensemble's guest musician who was an extraordinary saxaphonist.....can't remember his name. We got home just in time to try and have a short nap before the next leg of our day but the cat wouldn't leave me alone and insisted on sleeping on my chest. Simba is fat ...there is no disputing that....so I was quite uncomfortable and I gave up searching for a few moments of rest. Started getting dressed around 6:30 for our friends, Jason and Linda's "Bollywood Party". I could still kick myself for not bringing my camera as all of the women looked so beautiful in the original and handmade saris. Lots of colour and glitter. We dined on a smorgasboard of Indian food....butter chicken, curry, naan bread and lots of other yummy food.

Sunday I dropped off my artwork to the Zephyr Gallery for the annual International Women's Day Show. Kelly and I had spoke earlier and decided to go out for a walk because it was 10 degrees celcius without a cloud in the sky. We walked down to the dock laughing and talking about how much fun last night was and just generally rehashing all that had happened. We walked out onto the ice and I had the weirdest feeling come over me. I didn't tell Kelly this at the moment because I honestly couldn't find the words to describe what I was feeling. The best I can compare it to is like in the show "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" where they show his heart growing 10 sizes too big and bursting out of his chest. I wasn't thinking about what I had to do later that day nor was I thinking about what had happened that morning..... all the noise in my head just disappeared. I was totally Present and I mean totally. I really felt the warmth of the sun on my face, heard our feet shuffling through the snow and noticed with such clarity everything around me. As quick as that moment came it was gone but I was left with this all over warm and fuzzy feeling. This strange awareness that made me feel as if I had never been really present before.....hard to explain. Here I am on a beautiful sunny spring like day taking a walk with my close friend who loves me unconditionally with all my funky, wacky weird ways. It was such a small moment in time but oh so very memorable. Our lives are made up of all these wonderful "little moments" I guess the challenge is to try and experience them fully when they happen. Oh sure, the big things are always there....new car, new house, job promotion...... but I believe it is the small moments that keep us human and instill a gratitude that reminds us daily of how very blessed we truly are.

Whew, that was a long post but it feels good to put it out there.