Creative Journey Coaching

Lately, I am acutely aware of the small lives around me: butterflies, dragonflies, spiders and most recently, snails.  I’ve become so aware that when I take the dogs into the backyard, I actually say to them, “Watch the snails!”  I say it to myself too now, except sometimes, I forget.  When I leave the house going to the car or the backyard, I take a few steps before hearing the ominous sound… crunch. I’ve stepped on a snail. A small life ended.

I forget because my mind is on where I’m going, not where I am, although try telling that to the snail.

I feel terrible when that happens. My lack of presence had an impact on a life, no matter how small. What I’m beginning to realize is the impact it’s had on my life.

I realize how easy it is to be where you’re going and not where you are. Have you ever looked around your house and realized that there are objects that haven’t moved in ages? Dusting doesn’t count, by the way, if you subscribe to that discipline. I’m not talking about furniture (well, maybe even furniture). I’m talking about the lost button on the counter, the blender, the jewelry you wore throughout the week, taken off and carefully placed on your dresser to become its own little work of art by the end of the week. How often do we navigate through our homes unconscious of what’s around us because we are focused on where we are going, not where we are?

We ask each other, “Where are you going?” all the time. When is the last time someone asked you, “Where are you?” When is the last time you asked someone else?

 My thought this week is to be more present; to be where I am and ask myself the question “Where are you?” Perhaps if I did that more often, if we all did that more often, there would be less forgetting things, fewer accidents, less ominous crunching in the world all the way around. Certainly, there would be a lot more snails.

Where are you right now? And now? And now…?