⏳ TREE 382: Notice the moments

One.

A thing my life doesn’t have much of is long periods where I can relax or work on projects purely for fun.

I have a family. My youngest daughter is adopted. She has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and she’s deaf. I have a full-time job. I spend several hours writing and drawing for you every week. I spend several more hours every week looking for a new job so my family can move to Bristol so my daughter can go to a deaf school. I’m writing this in our living room. My daughter is on the couch. She’s ill, but not ill enough to stop her from talking incessantly. The writing goes slowly.

Life is a lot.

I’m not asking for sympathy because
I have a good life,
there are gifts in all of it, and
life is a lot for you too.

In the middle of the A LOT there are moments, five minutes with a book, 30 minutes drawing, a glass of wine with Christine, the feeling of falling asleep at night, spring blossom everywhere, Vego chocolate with hazelnuts.

When I pay attention to the moments, I see that my life has plenty of time for deep breaths, relaxation and fun. When I don’t pay attention, I feel like I never have enough time to do what I want. The moments slip by, wasted and unnoticed.

Pay attention to the moments in your life. Inhabit them with your full self.

Two.

Here was a rare big moment from last week. Freya and I spent three-quarters of a day climbing Devil’s Kitchen, wandering around the alien landscape at the top of the Glyders and picking our way down a ridge that does a good imitation of a cliff. It was glorious.

(There won’t be any new illustrations this week because all my drawing time is going to a new project which I will tell you about soon.)

Three.

“If someone talked to you
the way you do to you,
I’d put their teeth through.
Love yourself.”

After today, this week will be heavy on the throwbacks because of the aforementioned drawing project.

Grow slowly
Jeff