The clock on the wall held meaningless symbols.

I was reading, “Einstein and the Poet” when Cheryl walked in.

She came for a coffee break from her work studio down the hall; she’s been busy making necklace gifts for Christmas. I had just finished a coffee but we chatted as she sipped.

Then she stopped and responded to some texts on her iPhone. But I didn’t pick up the book again. Nor did I let my mind wander as it so often does. I just paid notice to the moment.

The living room at first seemed silent as her phone’s keyboard ticked under her fingertips. But yes, as the ticking continued I did find myself practicing presence. I didn’t reach for presence, I simply allowed it to happen. I let recent sadness of my life fade as I became fully aware…just for now.

There was no memory in this moment, nor anticipation…no yesterday, no tomorrow. The clock on the wall held meaningless symbols. I really only noticed its circular presence. After all it is really…always…only…Now.

I was soon aware that the silence was far from silent. The tink of expanding metal in the baseboard heat, the ticking of the solar toys that line our window sill, a plane droning high overhead, my breath, all in syncopation of the beat of her fingertips, a whispering, percussive orchestra for the stage of life before me.

It was all so very real, so very alive, so very new. Somewhere below our terrace a tiny dog barked. Bailey, on the footrest of my recliner, a soft pressure of warmth to my ankle.

I looked across the room at Cheryl, at the slightest smile at the corners of her lips. I looked with new eyes at another being here with me on this Earth…and I found myself smiling. Another transient moment captured. Another precious vignette snatched from the everyday din.

I was here. I was simply life among life. All that was…was this moment…this very temporary moment.

And now as I tick at my keyboard I am with you. I am life on your screen. And I invite you to delete all the worry, the tension, the stress, the guilt, the sadness; all the “Breaking News”, all the “This just ins…” and replace it with…presence.

I simply wish you to BE with those among you. I simply wish you new eyes on a “percussive” day or a silent night. And may you wrap those you love…with your presence.

Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Lee Leebythesea Winters

Please also “Chestnuts of Joy” if you’d like:

https://leebythesea.me/2016/12/08/chestnuts-of-joy/