I have busy days like most people. I dash from place to place. I fight to get tasks completed on time. People around me sprint to do the same. When I recently got another part time job, I realized I needed a moment to just be before my first day.
Just being is not an easy thing. It isn’t easy to explain either. For me, just being is a moment where I don’t think, I don’t wonder, I don’t care about anything other than just standing and listening. It is not an easy state of mind to enter, especially on a public trail. The same trail minutes ago a young woman was loudly chatting on the phone about whether her plans with friends would come to fruition. Her husband and young son gave up waiting for her to finish and continued down the path.
Once the perfect spot was found, I stopped and closed my eyes. Reeds rustled to my right as a loon trapsed through on an unseen mission. A red tailed hawk called out above me. Chirping from an unseen creature grew louder as it made its way towards my left leg. Only after listening to these sounds for a few minutes, I allowed myself to open my eyes.
The autum colors burst into focus. Slight rays of sunshine broke through the grey sky. The bright blue feathers of a scrub jay happily caught my attention. It jumped from branch to branch, making its way to an unknown destination. The sounds around me began to amplify. More animals added to the chorus.
Each sound and color resonated with me. They wove their way into the fiber of my being. I became a part of that moment in time. There will always be a mental photograph of those minutes on the trail. When my day becomes taxing, I will pull out that photograph and sink enjoyably back into just being.
