Be. Here.

It’s New Year’s Eve and we are in a plane again. This time we’ve left Grandma’s and are heading home. All around me, people are looking backward – it’s the end of the decade! – and forward – let’s make some resolutions! Me? I had a big plan to write a “Slice of Life” that wasn’t, strictly speaking, a slice of life at all, but was going to be very reflective and profound AND look forward to what comes next. I was going to include my “One Little Word” and even reference a book I just finished.

It was a good plan.

The thing is, of course, that we were on vacation. And the Santa Catalinas were right outside the window. And it rained – in the desert – so I had to get outside. And then we needed to paint and talk and read and snuggle and laugh and watch TV and hike and so much more. On one hike, our youngest insisted – spur of the moment – that we veer off our planned trail and head straight up another to the top of a mountain. We would have made it, too, if sunset hadn’t chased us back down. Our oldest remembered the neighbor who’s an astronomer/ professor/adventurer and an animated story-teller. He convinced him to take us stargazing in Sabino Canyon. And my mother-in-law cooked for us and cared for us and allowed us to settle in to just being for a while.

So I didn’t write that blog post. I’m not worried – I’ll get to it. All those ideas are still there, percolating away in the back of my head. And I didn’t get around to looking back over the past decade – or the past year – or even the past month – which was kind of my plan, what with a “last week of the decade/year/month” vacation. I didn’t get around to planning for next year – or month – or even week – either. I just texted a friend this morning to ask if I could let her know more about plans for Jan 2, well, tomorrow. Which, you might note, is Jan 1st. Ah well.

Instead, I have been busy being here. That’s my mantra during savasana at the end of yoga and what I repeat when I try to meditate. Breathe in – be; breathe out – here. I don’t know if it’s what I’m supposed to be doing at those times, but it’s what I started thinking years ago & it has stuck. And it’s what I’m doing now, at the end of this year, the end of this decade. I’m being here, on this airplane with my family on our way home,. Breathe in. Breathe out. Be. Here.

Happy New Year!