I am SHOCKED to be sitting here at Dulles International Airport, waiting to board our flight to Malaysia to meet our son and his girlfriend on their college graduation trip. When Cody asked us several months ago to join them for part of their excursion through SE Asia, my immediate response was, “that’s going to be really tough for me since my schedule will be super packed then.”
“It’s the only graduation gift I want,” he said.
Wow.
Between surgery in January, a 10-day silent meditation retreat in March, Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute teacher certification training in San Francisco for another ten days in April, getting my youngest packed out of his college dorm room, and celebrating my eldest’s graduation in Atlanta just a few days ago, not to mention the rest of work and training tasks to squeeze in between, preparing for this two-week trip took a lot of prioritization, focus, and perspective.
I pulled every mindfulness tool from my toolbox to stay focused, calm, and clear in my priorities. Early this morning, with my bags packed, my training homework assignments completed, and registration for my next 30-Day Mindfulness Meditation Challenge up and running on my website, I found myself in my garden, planting dahlia bulbs in my bathrobe and slippers.
Out of the corner of my eye at the top of my back slope, I spotted a flash of purple. To my delight it was the Siberian irises that my dear friend and former next door neighbor Diane gifted me more than two decades ago. Maturing trees have created more shade than the irises would like and I was worried I might not get any blossoms this year. Diane had asked me if I could photograph the flower this year, since the originals came from her mother garden. Just yesterday I wrote to Diane to express my concern that I hadn’t yet seen any iris blooms and was worried I might miss them while traveling.
So I was thrilled to see that burst of purple this morning! I ran inside to unpack my camera. I knew at that moment it was THE priority for me, carrying the same physiological feeling in my body that I’ve come to recognize when I’m working in alignment with my purpose. My delight stemmed not only from discovering the iris blossom, but also from the many mindful moments of presence and intentional action over the past several months that brought me to this point — namely, having the time the morning of my trip to capture the essence of this fleeting bloom.
I’ll be traveling for the next two weeks. I can’t wait to see what photo (and other experiences) await me in Malaysia and Indonesia. I’ll be taking a break from the blog next week, at a minimum, to be present with my family. I’m not sure what internet connectivity I’ll have, so will be going with the flow.
Will share the adventure upon my return if not before!
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