The Ideal

I've been in a mode.  Well, I guess you could call it a mode.  For the last few months it seems as though I've been stocking up on inspiration for when I finally began to settle.  This inspiration and way of thinking is not completely new to me.  It is something I am always revisiting, always coming back to.  Little things spark it--like a whisper tugging me back to remember this way of living.  The times when I am most happy can usually be attributed to this state of mind.  Or perhaps this state of mind is simply what happens when I'm most happy.  It is to live in the moment.  And not just to live in the moment but to slow down and make things happen rather than trudging along being hit by everything you pass.  I'm so good at going through the motions.  Everything feels so rushed and muddled sometimes.  But for whatever reason-- probably because I am so happy right now--I've stopped rushing and given in to my ideal.  When I remember this way of thinking everything becomes beautiful.  Suddenly eating cold strawberries while sitting on the deck becomes an enchanting adventure.  I've posted these flowers because it is evidence of my coming back to this place I use to love.  When in Utah I was visiting a friend who, I guess you could say, is one of those sparks that helps me remember to live in the moment.  Her name is Jacque and she has always been an inspiration in that way.  She has recently become engaged to be married (and theirs is a such a triumphant love story!) and one evening she was describing to me her vision for the reception in her mothers backyard.  I was swept up in the images I was getting of fabric and crystals hanging from the branches, ready to go in when she stopped and said "Wait, I need to pick some roses for my bedside."  I was so struck by this.   This little thing quickly became my symbol for living in the moment.  I then remembered something I found so much in Japan: flowers.  The Japanese have such a magic touch with flowers.  Flowers are everywhere.  Every house in the neighborhood was swarming with flowerpots all filled with healthy beautiful flowers.  I also noticed in a lot of restaurants and shops teeny vases with one flower, or one vine of ivy etc.  To appreciate fresh flowers on a daily basis is to appreciate that which is fleeting and beautiful-- which is what the present is.  And there really is something about it!  These cheap grocery store flowers have brightened my days considerably.  So with teeny vases I found at Target, my- Under the Tuscan Sun- blue vase and a glass milk carton I've filled the house with little reminders of this symbol.  This mode helps me to see life as the gift that it is.  I feel so ready to create, to sing, to write, to play!  And if I'm accused of being dramatic and silly, so be it!