It’s been a lovely evening after an interesting day. It’s been a day of ordinary pleasures and extraordinary love. Good lattes, great conversations with people I love, moments of delight and respect, moments of wonder, moments of excitement, even a moment or two of complicated emotions I don’t really have words for at all. Now, night has fallen. The household is quiet. Ahead of me, a few moments taking care of me; meditation, yoga, a shower, and some unmeasured time gazing at my aquarium before I sleep. There is really no need to look back to see what is behind me, not right now. Now is simply…this quiet place, this quiet time. I am not always this aware of how little assurance there really is of having one such beautiful moment of peace and contentment. I am aware, for now, how unwise it is to count on having this moment – or any one moment – of such specific pleasure.
Still… and it is ‘still’ right now… Still, this moment is this peaceful, and I am content. Quite content. It’s very nice. I’d be happy to feel this way a lot more than I generally do. I’m here right now, though, and I am enjoying it for what it is, without reservation.
There are so many small delights in this brief moment… the laptop… the MC Frontalot t-shirt… the knowledge that so many people who matter so much to me are only as far away as this keyboard, and their own. In that sense, we’re almost touching… I hear the rain coming down again, and the cat creeping across the roof… and quiet.
Shhh… Here comes the future…
Evening Light 
What a warm blanket of love and living in the moment I sensed.
Thank you for enjoying it with me. It’s these wonderful simple moments that keep me steady and focused on progress and life’s joys. 🙂
In my humble opinion;
This quiet relaxing appreciation of the natural beauty of The Moment that you describe here is a purely internal thing that can be re-conjured at any time on-demand, although we are too often distracted by the noise of life to do it. It can be facilitated by your environment, but it is not dependent on your environment – it is rather a state-of-mind. It is a matter of just “stopping” the daily BS for a second by an act of will and actually listening to the sounds around you, and actually examining the colors (what is it that makes this green different from that blue anyway?), and actually feel what it is like to pull a breath into your lungs and let it go again. You won’t have these wonderful things forever after all, so just “see” and “hear” and “feel” and appreciate how very, very good these simple, elemental components are in themselves. To live a life fully in this condition is the goal of some eastern religious traditions and meditation practices.
Thank you, John, and welcome. 🙂 I’m learning the truth of what your observations as I make my way. I’ve been building a steady reliable practice of meditating, for a bit less than a year now, and I have found it very balancing. You’re right that being able to take the serenity of a moment and experience it fully is largely a matter of choice. I admit humbly I am still learning to choose it, first. 🙂