Kitten in slow motion

A friend of mine shared this video on facebook a couple of days ago and it really touched me. To some people it might just be a cute video; others might be interested in the technology that was used to create it. But for me, I found myself to be quite moved.

Within the two minutes of that short video, here’s what I noticed:

• How extraordinary a simple moment like playing with a kitten in the garden can appear, when given attention
• The slow-motion effect is a lot like being mindful – giving focus to one activity at a time, paying attention to the special qualities of the event, such as the kitten’s movements, the spectacular nature of its body, the joyous nature of the event
• Play is natural state of being. We should make more time for it
• How joyful the kitten is, in its natural state of play
• How beautiful many other moments are in our life, just like this one – beautiful in their simplicity, innocence and naturalness
• I busy I am.  I have not been making time for mindful attention to simple activities that I love – such as playing with Butternut, cooking, hiking, photography, and just being. And I miss it.

Breathing in little moments

Last Friday I had sushi with my dad while in Toronto. We ate while sitting next to another father-daughter pair.  The daughter looked to be about 8 or 9 years old. I could overhear most of their conversation, some of which had to do with making weekend plans together. “We could make a pizza together,” the dad suggested, and explained how they could together prepare a pizza and choose the toppings. He spent some time coming up with various ideas that might be fun ways for them to spend time together. I was touched to see a dad spend his Friday night with his young daughter, enjoying some sushi and thinking earnestly about other activities that might be fun for his daughter.

In my field of work there is a lot of sadness and a lot of awareness and attention on human rights abuses and struggles – sociologically, legally, politically and personally. A great deal of my time is spent thinking about how I can address and work to overcome these challenges in small ways. So it is very good, but often involves an energy that is borne from a sense of injustice, involving anger or indignation.  Even those who don’t work in such a field can probably understand; most of us spend a lot of our time focusing on problems.

That’s why, when I see something beautiful, something touching, I breathe it in. I savour it. Seeing human kindness is one of the things that touches me the most. Whatever challenges that little girl has in her life, she will remember Friday night sushi dinners with her dad, making pizzas together and other weekend activities. She will have grown up with a dad who wanted to spend time with her. Those little moments will probably provide retrospective joy when she is an adult.

It’s so important that we capture and relish small moments of beauty and compassion in our lives. It’s what makes life so rich.

Update on Hawaii

Wanted to share an update with you all – I am home safe and sound and enjoyed a truly wonderful trip with my sister to Hawaii. It was an amazing experience and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to take this journey. Hawaii is an incredibly beautiful place. Although we barely scratched the surface of what there is to do and see, we were wowed by the beauty and cultural diversity of this state. It is somewhere I’d like to return.

We aimed to strike a balance between adventure and relaxation and I think we accomplished exactly that. We stayed in Waikiki, which as most people know, is a busy, bustling tourist resort town, a popular place for Japanese visitors. Despite the bustling nature of the town, it maintains a relaxed Hawaiian vibe. We spent part of our time in Waikiki and part of our time driving around the island of O’ahu, going for long hikes and exploring different beaches (each one is different from the next). Mornings were usually spent with a walk on the beach, a good Hawaiian coffee, a leisurely breakfast, and then we would be off to tour around the island, spending a good portion of the day in the arboretum, a tropical rainforest, a vintage shop, or on an almost deserted white sand beach – a piece of paradise.  Then in the late afternoon we would return to our hotel room, shower, and get ready for a great meal out – usually Japanese or Hawaiian food.

True, Hawaii is expensive to get to and it’s a very long flight indeed, but all of the time and money we invested into the trip was entirely worth it.  Interesting trips last forever in your memory and, in fact, they can enrich your life and even change who you are when you leave. I think back to the month-long backpacking trip I took ten years ago with my sister across Canada. We learned so much about ourselves, about our country, and about what it means to travel and get by in this country without a residence, a car, or much money. That trip has always stayed with us.  Similarly, the time I spent with my sister on this trip is invaluable to me, and I’m sure it will only deepen as the years past.

My sister helped to navigate while I drove in an unfamiliar place, she coached me into the water as I, terrified of having my face under water, put on snorkel gear (with her help I actually managed to snorkel despite my anxiety), and we made priceless memories of creating our own “cocktail hour” in our hotel room before going out at night, and dancing to Prince or the Backstreet Boys on the radio.

Some women like to buy expensive Prada bags. But like my sister said after the trip, “I’d take this over a closet full of designer clothes ANY day.”