to making it count

Today I woke up in a mosquito filled banda on the Indian Ocean.  We got up, walked 100m in low tide and floated in the morning sunlight.  The rest of my day followed pace: drinking sweet masala chai at a teashop, listening to music while the rain beat against the windows, watching a movie, eating with my friends.  Only now towards the end of it, I am vaguely fretting over the things that I did not manage to do, namely chip away at a long list of errands I continually find myself putting off.

Those of you who know me know that I’ve been reading a lot of what I call the ‘hippie genre’ lately.  This evening I came across this passage (by Nadine Stair): “I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do over again, I’d have more of them.  In fact, I’d try to have nothing else.  Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.”

Yesterday, one of the dearest people in my life lost one of the dearest people in hers.  While there is nothing I can do that can alleviate that pain, I can honour his memory – by cutting the tether of my to-do list more often and filling the days that I have been given with moments.