playing at presence

Saturdays on the daily headspa blog are about playing with the theme of the week. We've posted a really great little video of some people playing on gymnastic rings set up in Venice Beach, CA (at least, that's where it looks like they are).

I love play and yet sometimes I can't figure out why people do the things they do for the sake of doing them. I have never been a "hobby" sort of person. There is something so great about losing yourself in something that is essentially non-productive. Today we played tennis. It isn't productive. I'm not going to be the next Venus Williams. It was exercise, and it produced great endorphins and a sense of well-being (and some frighteningly sore muscles that promise more pain to come). But it was really just fun.

I wasn't present at every shot. Sometimes I thought about how I'd forgotten that tennis has been part of my life for a long time. Back in the day, I took lessons at a club. And played at summer camp. And on the high school team. How can you forget all of that? So I spent some time walking to pick up a stray ball wondering about all of that, remembering those feelings. And feeling the way I used to when the sea breeze picked up back home and brought that salty sunshiney smell across the courts, just like tonight here.

Every once in a while, in the sweet spot, I was totally there. And that was good enough. For Now.

isn't it ironic

Is this ironic: this morning I was gardening and listening to a podcast about being in the present moment through meditation. I'm wondering about the irony of doing two things at once, one of which (gardening) lends itself completely to the topic of the other (meditation). So I was neither gardening nor meditating, but some other thing that is a conflagration of these. Oh my.

Being in the present moment is our topic this week at daily headspa.

present moment fireworks

On daily headspa, we're blogging this week about being in the present moment.

Today is Territory Day in the Northern Territory of Australia, a day marked with copious amounts of fireworks. You can only buy fireworks up here for the few days leading up to today. I have no idea how long people save up the cash to buy the stockpiles they do.

It's challenging to settle into the present moment with bangs coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once!

No different than thoughts, really. Not that my thoughts are as exciting as fireworks, but they are just as random and just as distracting.

I played tennis today, which is a fantastic present moment activity. I love the concentration of it. In that sweet spot moment, all is now and I'm totally present. Sweet indeed.