Monday, August 4, 2008

Moments, vacation prep

As we have all experienced, nature is absolutely incredible! At its best, it is the most amazing thing to experience.

The joyous song of a bird, the beauty of a particular bloom, the lush green that surrounds us after a rainfall, the frenetic insect activity above the gardens on a sunny day, the myriad of insects on a stalwart Butterfly Bush at any time on a summer's day, an unexpected bird flying by the window, a seedling pooping up through the soil, a chipmunk running through the new seed bed, a woodpecker knocking on my house in search of a new home or insect, a beloved friend, making its appearance year after year, a Monarch Butterfly, purposefully fluttering from Milkweed to Milkweed depositing its precious eggs, one at a time, on choice, selected leaves, and so much more, all to be enjoyed in a moment within one's garden.
The bounty of nature is there for all of us to behold. It sometimes astounds me that I can walk by the garden and miss all it has to offer in a given moment.

A moment is just that, a moment. It comes and goes in the blink of an eye. And if we are not purposeful, and catch the moment, it passes, again and again. We get to choose if we are to be present, in the moment, or if we are to let it pass us by, losing that one moment on thought, driven by ego, leading to nothing, nowhere.

Each moment can be an event, the event of that single moment in time. We can experience each moment, each special event, or we can just get through each moment, not realizing we have missed out on an opportunity, the opportunity to be connected with all that is around us.

When I get busy with things in my life I get disconnected from my moments. In getting ready for our vacation, preparing for entertaining, and all that daily life entails, I allow myself to get lost in my thoughts, what needs to be done, etc., so much so that I lose that part of me that usually regales in all my little moments.

I've been trying to get caught up on the gardening, get a new-to-us, used laptop to work so that I can keep doing the blog postings while away on vacation, get clothes ready for the trip.

Hey, I seem to have lost a lot of weight these last two months!! I didn't take real note of it, other than to know that pounds are falling off, but realized it more fully when I finally noticed I have been tripping on my gardening pants while in the gardens!!. They have become so lose they are actually falling down, and I've been tripping over them!! Yea!!!!

So I need to go through my smaller clothes and put together a new wardrobe. So I know a few of you will understand the reference to my "smaller clothes". Some of us of a certain age have this thing called "roller coaster" weight - continually going up and down, up and down, and up and up, and not down and down!!

Until I was in my forties I never had to even think about my weight. Never had a problem with it, couldn't really understand those that did, as I had no first hand understanding of it. Then I had a car accident, was laid up for quite a bit, and the pounds started to come my way.

Long story short, it has been a battle for me for the last fifteen years. The accident exacerbated my Fibromialgia, which has come and gone at great strength off and on ever since, fully depleting my body and soul. These setbacks always involved a heavy price, medication. The medications always managed to add to the weight problem, while managing to keep me in a deep brain fog.

So I have digressed, but it all follows the same path, the one where I get disjointed from myself. Finally got myself off all the meds over the winter, head started to clear, and I read a book which initiated a process which has changed my life. If anyone out there is looking for direction, for a way to finding the purpose of your life, take a look at Eckert Tolle's "A New Earth". If you are ready for it, it will change your life. I read it a chapter at a time, doing the online course on Oprah.com that goes along with the book. (It's free to all)

For me, I learned how to be fully alive, to have fun, to be excited about life again, to be passionate, and to have enthusiasm for what I do each moment. Life is about this moment, what is here right now within each of us. It is connecting with all that surrounds us, and allowing the energy of the universe to permeate our being. Enough said.

So I need to reconnect, forget about the laptop, know that you will all be here when I get back from vacation. I was trying to get some post work done ahead, to cover the days I will be gone. I have really been enjoying this daily posting. I might be able to have sufficient access to a computer at the hotel, but this posting takes quite some time on given days and I like to tie them in to photos, now that I have gotten used to doing them. So I will be keeping notes, and allowing myself time off from the blog to be enjoying my vacation.

If I am able, you may find some postings from on the road. But I will be here until Friday, and then will be back on Saturday, the 16th.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Marna,
Leave the laptop at home! You deserve a relaxing, stress free vacation. Take care of yourself and know that we all will be waiting patiently for your return. I am on vacation starting on 8/16, can you hold onto those red poppy seeds for when I come back?
Take care,Sara

Anonymous said...

Hi Marna,
I agree with Sara, leave the laptop home and enjoy you vacation and family. I am sure you will have many garden stories to share with new people, familiar friends and family while there. We will all look forward to your return. I know this is your new baby and this will be hard but just set it aside with a quick goodbye and we will aawait you on the 16th. You sooooooo deserve a vacation. Have a great one.
Love,
Jeanne
PS. Didn't I tell you gardenening was one of the best workouts. You thought I was funny. However who is laughing now that your pants are falling off in the garden??? Thank goodness you are protected from the street and neighbors by all those lovely trees, plants and flowers.