May 7, 2014 Awake in Real Time: Coffee-induced Meditations and Journal Entries, Teaching and Learning

There’s a malaise and it’s eating at everyone’s vitals — and it’s so sad to see.
Everyone looks tired, everyone’s preoccupied, everyone complains, everyone’s self-absorbed.
The answer is to step away from it, I think.
To look at it, and consider it for what it is — a virus.
The answer is to look around, take in the sights (even if they’re not always pretty).
The answer lies in saying, “What can I do to make life better for myself and others around me?”
I’m not talking about systems better, or work habits, or specific things better. I’m talking about that extra minute you give someone when he or she comes to you, even if you have a TON of work, and cannot spare that minute.  The second to take before you decide to complain or not complain about your life to someone, who might have too much on her or his plate already.  That second where, if you so choose, you can laugh, shrug, raise your eyes, and drink in the sunlight.
It’s in truly enjoying beauty and color, no matter where, and in whom, we see it.  It’s in letting a person know if you like something about him or her.
It’s in the moment that we truly live.

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Tags: living in the moment, malaise, modern living, spare a minute