presence: by alma de la melena cox

you've seen alma here before (here, here and here), and i'm going to let her speak for herself about this happy photo. she says:

I am, by nature, a fairly driven person. I tend to think about what is NEXT, instead of what is NOW. In his book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle says, "Only if we are still enough inside and the noise of thinking subsides can we become aware that there is a hidden harmony here, a sacredness, a higher order in which everything has its perfect place and could not be other than what it is ..." I WORK at staying present-and in the moment, DAILY- it is not easy for me, but I try. I am truly amazed by the generous gifts I receive when I am- like this one:

This moment with my 13 year old daughter was between basketball games- my family had found a patch of shade under some trees. My daughter had been busy (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree :)) climbing a tree, showing us her cartwheels, goofing with her brother and his friend, and I laid there completely captivated by her- present. Suddenly she plopped down next to me and said, "Do you want to see what I have in my bag?" She proceeded to empty the contents and then named each thing, "This is my lipgloss, this is my wallet, see I even have money! Oh! and this is a picture of...." She took me right back to a place in the past when she was four when she showed me her treasures in her purse, her brother's Matchbox car, her lipgloss, her little plastic cup. Right then I knew that moment was FOR ME, to let me know everything has its place, in the past and present. Each thing in her bag are all present moments waiting to be witnessed and appreciated....."there is a hidden harmony here, a sacredness....." I guess future will depend on the quality of our present moments.

I think I just called lip gloss sacred. :)

check out alma's artwork on her website-- she is quite the talented lady!

*thank you, alma, as always. :)*