be here now

Yeah, it’s a gray morning. It’s raining. It’s kind of gross on the sidewalks where all that crusty stuff is melting into big brown puddles. It’s Monday… but today… I feel all right with the world.

I think it’s all too easy to look at life and see what’s wrong. Lord knows I do it enough. Especially when I write here. But, presently, as this week wakes up to all that must be done before its last second, I think I’m just going to celebrate this moment of satisfaction.

I made the resolution for 2010 to enjoy the people in my life with more conscious… and not wait for it to be something I appreciate when it isn’t there. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m certain it is one of those thoughts that crosses a lot of minds but gets distracted from purpose. I know my distractions seem important at the time… but in the end, they really aren’t.

Yesterday I made good on my resolution. I hosted my first gathering of what I’m calling the Sunday Supper Club. It gave me the excuse to use my dining room as a dining room for the first time since I moved into my apartment. It allowed me to cook and set the table and do a multitude of details that appeal to my hostess sensibilities (not the least of which – and yes, this IS weird – wash dishes at the end). But the best part, the absolute BEST part was that a group of eight sat at that table for two hours talking over all sorts of subjects as the different branches of my social circle connected and got to know one another… and I got to spend more time with them.

I don’t want to say this is a consequence of our hard-wired, virtually connected world. That we don’t just sit and talk anymore. It’s easy to blame technology for our lack of will. But the point here, isn’t about blaming. It’s about recognizing the opportunity of time and seizing it. And maybe that is why the joy of a filling vegetarian meal is still warming me today. Because there weren’t just moments, but a full couple hours of which I made the most. And that, really, is what being in this world is all about.