I bought daffodils for my office. I think flowers make a space feel brighter. It makes me feel better when I see the petals open. Work doesn’t always come easy to me, it baffles me that I wrote my debut book in six weeks, but some days cant even write an email. So it is nice, that for a couple of pounds - less than I spend on anything ese in my life - I can actually make my day a little bit nicer. I don’t know why it works, but it does.
It makes me think about how much time I spend questioning if things do and don’t work. If I feel happy or not? Am I hungry or am I ill? I spend so much energy asking questions I could just ignore, and instead be in the moment.
Being in the moment is something that feels like a cultural touchstone. It is often wafted about at motivational sessions (and I have been to a LOT) as a grounding technique, or as an answer to help us get through trickier life patterns.
The amount of private zoom messages I have had from attendees telling me they can hear me roll my eyes is actually embarrassing. I hate hearing ‘be in the moment’ or ‘remember to be present in all moments’ it makes me cringe, as if I am not actually playing an active role in my own life.
Yet, I think that perhaps I have not been as present as I could be. I can spend so much time in my head about every small and seemingly insignificant detail, that I forget to actually enjoy the small things in my life. One key fact is that life is only getting quicker, so blink and you miss it. Not being in the moment, is actually a little bit wasteful of the time we have.
I was always such a sceptic of therapy, and once I stopped questioning the way I was supposed to act/speak/be in therapy - it began to actually benefit me. It is abundantly clear that we need to be in the moment - no eye-roll needed - to get more of the good stuff.
Buy flowers for your office.
Get up early if you’re awake.
Eat another Kit Kat.
Enjoy Tina Turner’s Private Dancer at top volume - American express will do nicely thank you.
Smile at a stranger.
Silly things, that make us feel good. Why? Does it matter? No!
Be in the moment, and enjoy it!
Shot by Ruth Pechey
