Chipmunk Cheeks

Day 12 of the 500 words a day/30 day experiment @kale&cigarettes

For the past week and a half of this experiment I’ve let things flow. Sometimes, I’m led by something other than myself and I just let it happen. I feel a tremendous amount of inspiration and it’s magical. I feel like I could go on for days. Nothing else matters. Time stops. I’m immersed in my own magical world of words and phrases. Nothing distracts me. There are other times that I write about some stuff that I’ve been storing away, like a chipmunk preparing his little winter stash, gathering and patiently stockpiling gathering his acorns and getting them back to it’s safe cozy spot under the fall leaves. I can see this so vividly having just recently experienced it vicariously on the screen at the Natural History Museum in New York.

I’ve had so many ideas living in my head like writing about travel, yoga, parenting and the life of a military family. I experience while taking mental snapshots and filing them away. Collecting them in the same way that I collect shells and sand dollars along the shore on our gorgeous coastline. These experiences and pocket snapshots of moments in time stand still only to come vibrantly back to life once my fingers start typing away.

What about living for the sake of living? Does everything have to be captured on film or in words on paper? Isn’t it just enough to experience it, live it and move on? Does it all have to be chronicled and memorialized? Hmmm? Something to think about. No right or wrong or black or white. Life’s too amazing to be lived in extremes or polarity. Life exists in this moment in time.

But, I also enjoy going back and retrieving those precious moments and breathing new life into them. Chronicling my experiences and times shared is one of my favorite things to do. Not to say that without reflecting on them they didn’t happen. Not to say that if it’s not captured in a photo or shared through FB or Instagram they haven’t really happened. But, I don’t mind it either. Sharing, I mean. Everyone’s different. There’s something about capturing a moment on film that resonates. That solidifies the moment and keeps it alive. There are plenty of private times and not everything’s meant to be shared. Those times are still living and breathing in my memories. They can be easily brought back causing a soft smile on the lips or a hearty belly laugh.

For me, remembering a sweet, tender moment of childhood or a funny ass embarrassing slip and relishing it through story telling or enjoying it quietly by myself is fulfilling. Being with others that can relate with those memories or frames of reference can be bonding.

Remembering or reflecting on times past doesn’t mean living in the past. It’s just temporarily going back and retrieving one of those golden acorns from the pile and relishing it again. There are times when I pause before busting out the IPhone to take a pic. I check myself. I think, am I missing out on this moment right now to take a photo? Wouldn’t I rather just let it be and enjoy it? Isn’t just having the experience enough? Not everything is meant to be shared. But, everything is meant to be experienced with all of the senses, with all of your being, heart and spirit. With that, I’ll be enjoying the rest of my refreshing cucumber mint martini in my backyard oasis surrounded by my family. The sounds of my boys playing, husband grilling up a feast and the sun shining on my exceptionally grateful self, soaking it all in.