My grandmother loved birds. She would sit in the garden for hours watching them. She was a strong woman from British descent who ran a macadamia farm in what was then known as the Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga. As children we were terrified of her, at the table we had to sit up straight, eat with our elbows in and ‘don’t slurp your soup!!!’ Her home ran with military precision, breakfast at 8:30am, jobs to do on the farm after that, lunch at 1pm and dinner at 7pm. We didn’t dare take off on a long bike ride or have a lengthy dip in the pool next door and run the risk of being late for meal time.
As my Gran reached her 90s and by then I was already a mother of three children, I would find her sitting quietly on my parents patio immersed in the activity of the birds in the garden. She would say ‘dearie, that little one is very cheeky, he keeps chasing the others away’ or with a disdainful look, ‘I don’t like those Minor birds, they are bullies!’ She would be completely present and enjoying the moment. Observing and reflecting. This memory stays with me, it helps me to take a moment in the morning to watch the birds, to forget the activities that will follow, to forget my To Do list or my challenges as in that moment, there are just the birds.
What practices can you bring into your day to be completely present?
We are always rushing from one place, going to another … that quiet moment can make all the difference to your way of being and by practising presence, you will invite magic into our life.