The simple things.

November 2016.

There’s a lot to be said about focusing on the present and enjoying the moment.

Sounds easy? It’s hard, at least for me. Working life demands that I constantly be planning, implementing and improving; it’s a continuous loop that involves contemplating ‘next steps’. Then there’s school (what’s coming up? what does our daughter need for that day?) and home (what groceries do we need for the week/fortnight? what needs to be done, to be cleaned? what bills are due?). Being purely in the moment is bloody hard.

So my approach is to simply try and enjoy those ‘magic moments’ when they happen, when I can. I’m going for a glass-half-full approach over the glass-half-empty doldrums. I don’t have all the answers and it doesn’t always work, but this weekend it did.

After a frantic working week involving some travel and one celebratory late night (we won an award!) I returned home to Newcastle and my gorgeous girl. The boys were camping so we were flying solo. Saturday loomed large with social commitments: a gathering of Mothers Group, a pool party, a drive to Civic Park to see the visiting Cadbury Joy truck and babysitting a friend’s daughter amongst others.

I am easily overwhelmed when there’s lots on, but as the day wore on I realised how much I was just enjoying it all, especially watching my girl enjoy herself too. Later that afternoon I found simple pleasure in the cooling north-easterly and the lengthening shadows of the trees and buildings whilst watching two girls run the perimeter of the park fountain. We had nowhere to be and nothing to do except relax. Shoeless, the girls wiggled their toes in the water and giggled as their hair whipped around their faces. We ran into friends from ballet, school and life. I was in a beautiful place with a sunset breeze surrounded by Novocastrian families enjoying daylight-saving hours and the Summery vibe. It was a perfect moment.

You might argue that it’s impossible to lose yourself in the moment and take photographs too. I guess it depends on whether you love taking photos or not. I do, and so I was most definitely in my happy place.

Now it’s Sunday. This morning we strolled through a jungle of bromeliads and ferns to visit the local Fairy Garden with my niece. Tonight I’ve discovered a Crowded House concert televised live from the Sydney Opera House. I’m sitting with my headphones on, listening to songs from my youth and feeling completely soothed by the Finn brother’s harmonies.

I hope you spent some time enjoying being in the moment this weekend too. Lou x