Commentary by Dr. Sally Brown Bassett
When I look back at special moments when traveling, it was those times just being still and taking it all in. Looking down at Machu Picchu in Peru after a five day trek, standing on the Charles Bridge in Prague, watching an Eskimo blanket toss next to the Arctic Ocean in the northern most point of Alaska, doing “tree” pose during a yoga class in the heart of the rainforest in Costa Rica … these are the moments that I remember with clarity.
Eagle Creek Park is one of my favorite places in the world. Weekly hikes with girlfriends enable us to catch up on each other’s lives, be out in nature, and get exercise all at the same time. It also includes stopping somewhere on the trail to take in a specific sight or moment. Recently the stop was next to the water where dozens of egrets were enjoying a swim and turtles basked on a log. The sky was blue and that feeling of late summer and not quite fall felt comforting.
How many times have we told our kids, parents or even ourselves, “Later”? We have our to-do-list that never ends. We often judge our day by what we can check off that list. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be? Interesting concept. Find time this next week to just be still. Take in the wonder and joy of being still and using all your senses.
Eckhart Tolle wrote in his book, “The Power of Now,” that “glimpses of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought. For most people, such gaps happen rarely and only accidentally, in moments when the mind is rendered “speechless,” sometimes triggered by great beauty. Suddenly there is inner stillness.”
The present is right now. The present is not the past and it is not the future. The present is the best gift you can give yourself. A well-known anonymous quote says it all, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” Be still and capture those moments. Until next time …
Namaste!