I spent today working on the idea of being present. I hear a lot about it lately,

“being present”

The idea that you need to really experience your life. On the surface, this sounds remarkably dumb.

Like, you’re immersed in your life, how the heck can you be present more than just being there?

But when you stop and think about how many times we rush through to the next day and the next, crossing off the big list of things to do and moving on without breathing, maybe being present isn’t as intuitive as I thought.

Especially for me, the way I rush through, checking off boxes on my bullet journal like I know what I’m doing, it’s possible I’m not as present as I could be.

So today, I spent the day with my family. I attempted to have my children learn about another culture and it went somewhat okay.

I was present for the extremely cold wind causing them to cry icicles as we walked to the Chinese cultural Center in the downtown.

It was only a block, but the wind howled and I was near tears myself. It took an hour for my ears to stop throbbing.

I was present as we took pictures of the kids in a dragon head, and hugging a person sized panda.

While we ate some interesting food items on a stick.

I was present for the middle child meltdown that cut our adventure short, just as people with cool dragon pants were congregating.

We watched a video on YouTube later, but it wasn’t the same.

I was there as we enjoyed McDonald’s in the car with the skylight open, happy children shooting each other with happy meal toys.

The day was long but I can honestly say I was there for every minute of it.

I loved it, but can’t wait to go to bed!