This is the only moment

 

 

The past is in the rear vision mirror, the future not set, there is only this moment.

Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, put it nicely when he said,

"Breathing in I calm my body. Breathing out I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment!"

To centre oneself and repeat the good monk's quote, can bring you back to this moment and enjoy inner peace. 

I took this short Youtube clip  Wednesday morning feel-good vibes early this morning and was grateful to have had that moment and the many other things which make up my life.

Years ago I taught meditation and spiritual development classes and used a similar quote, mostly as a pattern interrupt by adding a sprinkle of humour to it.

Life can be stressful particularly when events are out of our control but we have the power to be aware and prepare, to reframe negative self-talk, and add humour to the mix.

The present moment, together with a sense of gratitude is a wonderful place to be and if you have yet to try it, I can highly recommend it.

Until next time, stay safe and well 😁

A Kaleidscope called Butterflies

I came to a screaming halt during a recent power walk when there before me were hundreds of beautiful butterflies. They were fluttering about haphazardly among the white bottlebrush shrubs bordering the footpath opposite the now empty café strip of Scarborough.

Mesmerising to watch, these hyperactive butterfly lovelies took my mind off the agony of prolonged home detention during the COVID-19 isolation phase.

Did you know a group of butterflies are called a flutter, wing, swarm, rabble, but are officially called a kaleidoscope?  If you didn't that makes you and me both - I was happy to have learned something that day.

Butterflies symbolise inner transformation, change, resurrection, joy, endless potential, happiness, and hope. Tis the season for butterflies but I've never seen so many and not the only one who noticed. Maybe it's because of good rainfall out west - who knows. To me, the COVID-19 event is a pivotal time in history and the butterflies cement this transformational time for me. It's the ending of life as we knew it and the beginning of endless potential.

With restrictions still some time away and work contracts a thing of the past, I make the most of my solitary confinement by walking along the beachfront. I watch Old Sol rise over the horizon and walk on cold sand (wonderful exfoliation for the feet) mainly to get away from the footpath where its a peak hour of joggers and people walking their dogs.

With single-minded focus, I power walked the 5kms to visit butterflies (the links below will take you to, two short YouTube clips).

Butterfly Magic

Butterflies


Sadly no coffee shops were open for a flat white with soy to be had, so I powered back up and walked home.

The exercise was great, the butterflies better.

Until next time, cheers 🦋

There's Gold in that Feedback

 Scrolling through Instagram recently, I found myself comparing my images against those shared by more experienced photographers.

 I know, I know, I shouldn't compare my photos against theirs, but I did.

 Several weeks ago a kind and generous photographer friend said next time I should use a tripod and lower the shutter speed to improve image quality, while another said, "keep those horizons straight!"
 
 As you can see from the image below, a tripod would have helped keep the horizon straight and saved this photo from having to be cropped.

I could say I was following Earth's orbit ...

Mango Madness at the Drive-Thru

 I adore fruit bats. Really, I do. These mammals with their cute little faces and gorgeous brown eyes are nature's little gardeners who spread their seeds far and wide and help pollinate more than 100 species of native trees.

Flying-foxes spread the pollen of valuable plants as they feed, so they play an important role in our environment. Some plants even rely on flying-foxes to pollinate their species.

~ Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld

 We need these noisy, furry, flying gardeners to help our environment flourish and although grey-headed flying foxes are listed as vulnerable, and I'm optimistic we can help get their numbers back up.

Grey-headed flying fox colony, Lowood Queensland

 Grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) shown above, are also known as fruit bats or megabats and are a warm-blooded mammal native to Australia. They're also our largest bats.

 The bat image was taken mid-afternoon and the colony quiet, except for the occasional squabble, screech, scream, and yoga wing stretch.

 Speaking of yoga wing stretch, it was interesting to watch them stretch their wings (around 1 metre or 3.3 feet across), then wrap themselves up again. For some reason, this reminded me of stuffed cabbage leaves.

 But, they're not always at their roost 😉 

The Rear Vision Mirror

It's in books, music, and quotes - Never Look Back is a thing.

These three words supposedly eliminate feelings of regret for a bunch of reasons such as never look back because you're now on the trajectory of success. Or, never look back because heartache ripped your soul to shreds but look at you now - you are the epitome of success on fire.

Never look back is to move away from something (refer to above).

Like looking in a rear vision mirror, I looked back. I looked back on times where I believed I was happiest and by doing so, wasted years of my life.

On a recent road trip south of two State borders I spent weeks revisiting old haunts.

Who knew that instead of feelings of reconnection and all-encompassing love, I laid ghosts of the past to rest instead.

For decades my heart stored sweet memories of seasons past but upon my arrival at said old haunts I discovered the good time vibes were gone. Vanished. Nada. Those nostalgic feelings had disappeared.

After much thought and several mugs of flat-whites with soy, it dawned on me. I'd stored time-bites of happy memories and often referred to them keeping them alive resulting in years of out-of-date memories looping around my heart.

The reality was people had moved on or away, some were no longer here, some divorced others remarried and created new, happy memories.

The past is the past - never look back, keep moving forward

Through this monumental Aha moment I felt lighter, liberated, my heart stopped yearning for the impossible, and with that came hope for a fresh start into my Third Age.

The paradox is I then began the grieving process of having let go.

Seriously, life sucks sometimes but I dusted myself off, pulled up my britches and got on with it.

The old haunts no longer hold a particular interest to me but are simply places where I once occupied space and had a ripsnorting good time.

Now I'll get back to creating new memories and focus on what I have with special people in my life, and live life with purpose.

The past is the past - only look back if you're driving and checking traffic in a rear vision mirror.

Till next post, it's time for a flat white with soy 😀