Now
How long does she expect me to pose with this cup? I'd rather roll over and have my belly scratched.
They say if you want to learn how to live in the moment you should observe a dog. As I write this at my friend’s kitchen table on this our ‘Thursday Writing Morning’, her dog rubs up against my leg. The female Boxer lets me rub her back and scratch behind her ears with my non-writing hand. Seeing that I still keep my pen moving and satisfied with the attention I do give her, Sassy goes back to her spot under the table and settles in for a morning nap.
I notice similar behavior at home with my dog, Buford. He is always fully attentive to whom and what is in front of him. There are numerous times when he gives me his look at me, look at me, look at me now, expression with his in my face, notice me, play with me, pet me, touch me, look out for my tail it’s gonna lovingly whack you, way of being that completely irritates me. When really he is being fully present, 100% in the moment loving the person in front of him.
How often do I push my husband, friends, or my children out of the way mentally when they are right there in front of me at a time I find inconvenient? Too often. I’ve got stuff to do, dinner to cook, we’re going to be late if I take this moment – this present speck of time and space to actually be in the moment.
Instead I could learn from my canine friends. Stopping to engage with one another is just one way to be present and living in the NOW. Turning off the control switch and being in the moment.
Sassy has woken from her five minute nap, sipped from her water dish, and sees the two writers at the kitchen table aren’t budging. She seeks out a new space to spread out and rest as she wanders out of the kitchen, down the hall. No agenda, she lives in the moment, ready to engage with the next human who is willing to stop what they’re doing and love what’s right in front of them.
Dog and his boy dance, engaging in the moment when there is nothing else that matters.