Are You Kidding Me?
Before I write these Magical Moment Blog posts, or what I think of more as my love notes to you, I take time to contemplate upon the messages that you’re most likely needing to hear right now.
I may sit quietly for guidance, but more often than not, the inspiration for these writing pieces come to me while I’m on my daily walks with Georgie Girl.
Perhaps it’s because we’re in the busy month of September, but the message I was told to share with you today is around Being Present in our day to day lives.
There is a funny passage in my first book, Preemie, that touches on exactly that.
It’s what I fondly refer to as my “grocery cart moment.”
I’m sharing it here in the hope that it inspires you to ask yourself, Am I present!
Enjoy!
From Preemie: Lessons in Love, Life and Motherhood – Chapter 30 – Moments
Karen McCarthy, the energy healer we worked with, talked a great deal about my inability to stay present.
She leaned forward in her office chair and touched my knee.
“You’re always checking out,” she said. “Try staying present and really be in the moment. When you’re with your kids, be with them. In the grocery store, really look at the fruits and vegetables. Appreciate the colors. On your walks notice the trees, feel the wind on your cheeks. Be in the moment.
By the end of that appointment, we came up with the technique of asking myself Am I present?
It actually helped.
During the morning drop off at Andie’s school, I talked more with other parents and even arranged a few date play dates without Andie’s prodding.
I felt more comfortable inside my own skin.
Then I had what I come to call my “shopping cart moment.”
It was one of those mornings when I’d raced the kids to school and zoomed off to try and do way more errands than time could possibly allow.
I was in the grocery store, throwing things in my cart, thinking about my next stop and checking my watch, when the question rang in my mind.
Kasey, are you present?
I laughed out loud.
I looked down at my shoes. “No,” I whispered to the shopping cart.
I took a deep breath, held up my to-do list, and scratched off all the other errands.
I decided that while I filled my grocery cart, I would stay fully present and enjoy the experience.
In the produce section, I studied the bright red tomatoes, smelled the strawberries, and rubbed the melons. I wandered around and found foods I never even knew the store carried. I was delighted when recipe ideas popped into my head.
Eventually, I arrived at the checkout. The lines were several customers deep.
I wanted to fret, but instead took my spot third in line and waited while two more shoppers fell in line behind me.
Yes, I boasted out loud in my head, I am present.
The line moved, and I was up next. Preparing to unload my cart, I looked down. And then I looked down again. I looked behind me, and then back into the cart.
It was empty.
My shopping cart was empty.
I’d stood line for ten minutes clinging to the handle of an empty shopping cart.
Later I’d laugh when I told Lee, but in the meantime, I had to excuse myself, reverse my empty cart under the scrutiny of other shoppers and find my way back out of line. “I forgot something,” I mumbled. “Yeah your mind,” their looks seem to say.
I searched several aisles and finally found my full cart waiting patiently alongside the canned tomatoes and imported olive oils.
I must have walked away with an empty one that had been sitting near mine.
I swapped carts, and as I pushed my loaded cart back down the aisle, I asked out loud, “Kasey are you present?”
That time, I refused to answer.
Do you ever have those moments?
I’d love to hear!
And please share this with anyone in your life you feel could use a little reminder to Be More Present!
