January 29, 2017
At 3:46 pm yesterday, Spring arrived on the island. I know … it’s January! Spring is a good six some weeks away and yet there they were … SEVEN robins … peeping and bobbing around my backyard on an uncharacteristically sunny PNW Saturday in January.
PNW for those of you not up with the PNW lingo, means Pacific Northwest. Every time I just use NW, I get corrected! So, there. It’s only taken me 972 days to get that right.
I’ve been here now, on this island, for 972 days! Wow. Guess I should have a party or something next month when I hit 1000 days! Another moment in time to celebrate or at least commemorate.
This morning I was in bed, snuggled with Gert under my antique satin comforter that was used by my grandmother who is long gone, luxuriating in the cool breeze as it came through my open window and billowed out my lace sheers before wafting over us. It was wonderful. Decadent. Blissful. 9:42 am.
Today, as I was on my computer, new dog Clara came over to me (from a dead sleep) and gave me a nose kiss. Her first one. What prompted that? Some doggie dream? I don’t know – but I took it … 12:23 pm.
The other evening I read an article that stated that everything and everyone in life is limited. It’s not a profound statement and yet it is. There is a limit to everything. We will never do all that we want to do. Be all that we want to be. Learn everything that we want to learn. Or live as long as we want to live. We will never go to all the places we’d like to visit or spend as much time as we want to with the people we love. Everything in life is finite.
And yet we don’t go about our lives with that in mind. Well, most of us don’t.
Time is fleeting. Decide what ‘s important.
I’ve been mulling this over and I’ve decided to slow down and be more aware. And, maybe, that is why the robins hopping around the backyard stuck with me. I could have easily dismissed them as just “birds” or not noticed them at all … but how could I not smile and take delight in a harbinger of Spring? In January! That was a moment in time. I might not remember the exact time or date by next month … but it’s certainly made a difference in my weekend!
Cherish what we can. Make a list and prioritize. Set yourself free to do what you want.
I found a “to-do/bucket list” of sorts that I started in 1989 … way back when the kids were toddlers. I added to it as the years went along and now, nearly 30 years later, I look at some of the entries on that list and laugh … because they are still on my “to-do list” for this year. Chances are I need to prioritize and be realistic instead of idealistic … and separate out the should-dos from the want-to-dos. I can only do so many things in my lifetime – why not do the ones that I REALLY want to do? The ones that are important to me? The ones that will make a difference to myself and others? Instead of just having a long list of things that compound the feeling that I never get enough done?
So, off my list is: the name of some record company that I thought I should contact (what was I thinking of doing – cutting a demo?), learn how to change a tire (uh, it’s called AAA people), see a moose (ooh, I’ve done that!) … and about 50 other inconsequential things that pertain to pets and houses I no longer have or interests that are no longer, well, of interest.
And, as much as I think I’d like to learn how to crochet, speak another language or bake a souffle … if it hasn’t happened by now, and it’s been on my list for 30 years, chances are it’s not that important to me!
We’ve only got so many moments! We should do with them what is gnawing at us. What is in our gut. What is our passion. What we wake up thinking about … and those things that we’d really like to do. Right?
So, on my list I’m keeping … work on my kids’ books, start my Woof biz, learn piano, stretch more, write more, be more open, share time with those I love. I believe if we throw things out to the universe, the universe answers. So, at 7:05 pm on this Sunday evening I’m making a decision to lighten up and get that long list of “should-dos” off my back and allow myself to focus on the shorter list – the things that are more important to me. I’m throwing them all out into the universe and hopefully I’ll look back, six months from now, and say, “I’m happy I made time for … “.
So, tonight before I go to bed, I’m going to get out my new journal (that I thought I’d start with the new year but have yet to crack open) and start in and make some plans and set aside some mornings to work on those ideas and dreams, that which as yet, have only been on my wish list. I’m going to start … one small step at a time … to realize those dreams and make sure I relish the process.
Because it’s in the everyday and in the journey that we take notice of those moments in time.