Mindful March

March is here, and I'm a little late in posting. This month is Mindful March. I like where this trend is going. It is a good way to remind people to stop and ground themselves in the moment. It's time to pay attention. It won't be that hard. The beauty of spring is in Vancouver. Currently, it's spring break for me. I have already enjoyed 1 week of holidays on vacation in the Yukon, Northern Canada. I went to Whitehorse to enjoy some winter activities and hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. No such luck. I still had a great time though. I went ice fishing, dog sledding and it snowed like no tomorrow there. I also went up to the Alaska for a short visit in the tourist town of Skagway. It's a port for a lot of cruise ships. It was low season, so the town was dead. Luckily there was a restaurant open. We had a snack and went back on the road for the 3 hour drive back to Whitehorse.

It was an interesting trip. We had a lot of new experiences there.

I will post some photos when I get around to it.

So this idea of Mindfulness March got passed down to me from my dear friend Michelle who tagged me in an Instagram photo that was posted by Mala Collective. Mala Collective is a Vancouver based Mala retailer. They have come up with a list of mindful goals for people to engage in for the week. Yesterdays was a mindful meal. Today is a mindful moment of bliss. I sat down for a moment at a coffee shop and thought about that today. A mindful meal is something I can understand.  You sit down, look and smell your food. You taste every bite. You show gratitude and love towards the food and yourself, and those that made it for you and got it to your plate. A mindful moment of bliss is harder. How do you just find a moment to capture bliss? Bliss is a very unique feeling. It doesn't come around all the time. Most of the time when you feel bliss it's a surprise. It also comes and then recedes. When you are feeling blissful do you want to waste that moment and pull the phone and take a picture? Maybe right after you capture it, it will be gone.  I took a picture of a peaceful moment instead. Peaceful moments are easy to find. In any situation you can find peace if you quiet your mind down. If you look at whats around you it's easy to feel peaceful. Bliss... that's a hard one. I will need to find a way to get there. To find it for myself. Whenever I've experienced bliss it was a shared emotion with someone else.

I haven't been writing in my blog that often because, for one, I had forgotten my password for a while. I also met someone new and was spending some time with them. Recently, we have separated and moved on to new chapters in our lives. I read my previous post on being single and I have some more thoughts on that now. Romantic experiences teach you a lot about life.  Most importantly it teaches you to move on with it.  Being involved in a romantic connection is a great feeling but it always comes with risks. It comes with the risks of being vulnerable and being hurt. It comes with the realization that someone you like and care might not be the right one for you even if you want them to be. So then what? When two sides can't overcome hurdles then you let that go and move one. I always wonder so much pain must come out of so much happiness? But now I realize it's part of the process. Joy and pain come from the same place. You can't have one without the other. If you don't to experience pain with someone or from someone, then don't engage in joyful experiences with them. Connections create disconnect. Caring creates hurt. It's two sides of the same coin. Success comes with failure. I'm going to work hard this month on being Mindful of this new experience and see it for what it is and let it be. I want to be grateful for the good times and to understand and accept the pain. I am also going to do daily practices of mindfulness so I can appreciate more of what's here and now. I don't want to miss those little moments that can be astounding just because I wasn't paying attention.

There was a poster I saw on Instagram that said something like this... if you had a bank account that gets a deposit of 1,000 dollars everyday but whatever is remaining is gone by midnight...would you withdrawal all of it each day or loose some of it everyday? The logical answer is to withdrawal daily, because if you don't it's gone. Too late, bye bye. Everyday is like that with time. Spend the time on what you want...find out what is at the root of your happiness.Then spend your time make the world a better place by making yourself a happier person.

Mindful March came to me at a very needed time. I am so grateful.