The Way to Live

My favorite days are quietly becoming the slow days. Nothing major happens. I get to hear “Hi Mama” before I even turn on the light. We cuddle as we have breakfast and start our day. We read. We play. Somedays I let nap time be productive but more often than not it’s spent reading or writing, crafting. All things that could be considered “unimportant”. 

But these days are becoming my favorites. Redundant maybe. Uneventful mostly. Full of love always. Even as I recognize how special this is I still struggle to be fully present in these moments. 

Too often we are taught that life is only as special as the next big thing you are doing, the next new place you are going, the next Instagram worthy moment. 

All those things are great, but they are often few and far between when compared to the mundane. 

If we only look forward to the big moments and ignore the day to day, it becomes too easy to feel let down. Chasing the next big moment wastes a majority of your life and you miss out on special moments that are nothing crazy but are important all the same. 

The appreciation of these small moments is something we are both lucky and unlucky to notice. Do we only notice these once we see how fleeting life is? Is the appreciation of tiny moments brought on by missing those who cannot live them beside us?

Some people live a long life before they realize how short our years are. I was 13 when I learned life is the longest thing we will know, but it can never be enough time. I lived foolishly like many people in my early adulthood forgetting how precious life is; how lucky we are to get to live every moment we get. 

I’m thankful now I can see the truth.

I reread Harry Potter this week and Dumbledore wisely tells Harry (as he is fixated on the Mirror of Erised)  “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

How fitting that I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to put my thoughts on the value of the small moments into words and that quote found its way back to me.

We can dream for the next big moment, the next noteworthy thing, but we will miss out on everything in between.

That’s life- all the in between moments.

And as hard as it is to come to terms with it, I think the only way to live- truly live- is to know we won’t forever. Do the things that make you happy. Enjoy the mundane day to day. Love the people who love you.

Find the good in every day even if every day can’t be good.

I pray for peace and protection for anyone reading this, I know many need it even when we don’t speak of it.