Immersion in the Moment

It’s been a bit quiet here on this blog during the pandemic; I’ve been hunkering down, running on survival mode. But slowly, joyfully, signs of newness are sprouting up. New energy, new room for imagining, new spaciousness.

Crown of Flowers, William Bouguereau, 1884, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of R. B. Angus, inv. 1889.17

I love this painting by William Bouguereau because the whole point of it is enjoyment. When I stand in front of it in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, I’m treated to a moment of visual pleasure. I feel immersed in the dream-like countryside, imagining weaving the delicate flowers into a crown and the feel of my toes in the dirt. It is an invitation to enter into something beautiful simply because it feels good.

Moments like that are what are giving me the most life right now. Those moments of embodiment where I give myself over to the present moment. Last night I was pulling gargantuan weeds out of my garden, when I looked up and saw the gentle pinks and oranges of the sun setting. Suddenly, I was flooded by my senses: the aroma of the wet soil, the Queen Anne’s Lace tickling my knees, the neighbor kids’ bubbly laughter, the sense of nighttime’s imminent arrival. My day had been a frenzied parade from one urgent task after another, but in that moment in my garden, I was fully where I was.

And it felt good.