Hi there,

Have you ever experienced a bird flying overhead and you can hear the air move around its wings? In that moment, the only thing that exists is you and the bird. For me, I watch in awe as the bird passes overhead with minimal effort, gliding along to reach its destination. Those are the types of moments that I began craving more. Moments that left me intrigued, fulfilled and fully consumed.

I started to reflect on when I would have those moments naturally. What prompted them? What were my surroundings? How could I put myself in those environments more and more? I hypothesized that if I could foster more of those moments, then I would feel more connected, more fulfilled and not like life was happening ‘to me’ but rather life was happening ‘for me’.

I dug deeper, keeping a journal of notes of when those moments happened. While I’m still on the journey to discover more, I’ve found that these moments share a few similar qualities.

3 Qualities of fulfilling moments

Through my time journaling about these rare and fleeting moments, the ones that left me feeling more fulfilled, more connected and the ones that I remembered most, there were similar qualities. These moments happened more frequently when:

1. Pace: These moments became more frequent for me when I slowed down. When I was not focused on my phone or computer. When I was not rushing from point A to point B.
2. Freedom: When I was ‘free’, these moments were more apparent in the adventure. What I mean by ‘free’ is: when I did not have plans, when I was not rushing from 1 thing to the next, when I had time to wander (vs. when I was on a purposeful hike). Free from restrictions, deadlines and the straight, expected path.
3. Present: When I was present in the moment, I tended to notice the world unfolding around me more. As an example, whenever I would hike or be out on the boat, my mind was forced to be navigating the path or the waterway. I could not be focused on the presentation I needed to give for work or the garbage that needed taken out.

While my journey continues to be an evolution, I started taking steps to change my pace of life, giving myself more options and an environment to be free, and changing my lifestyle to be more present in the moment.

3 ways to purposefully seek a slower say of life

I started to seek out ways to change my pace of life.

Here are 3 ways that I have added:

1. Record Players vs. Instant Music: There’s such a beauty in maybe what I will call “old-school technology”. As an example, the record player. To hear the music, you must select a record, knowing that you can only listen to generally speaking one artist at a time, knowing that you would have to pick out the record and put it onto the record player and find the right thread. Versus, going to Spotify and instantly being exposed to millions of songs. Spotify enables my lack of focus and provides instant gratification which enables me to move faster (but ultimately, leads to less gratification).
2. Film Camera vs. Digital Camera: I love photography. Overtime, I learned the mechanics of the Camera – from F-stops, to aperture, to shutter speed and light. Today, most (if not all) of the mechanics of photography are enabled for the user. So instead of ‘making’ or ‘creating’ a photograph, you are ‘taking’ a photograph. To help slow things down, I bought a film camera because it makes me actually line up a shot and purposely take a photograph.
3. Cooking vs. Ordering or Frozen: I gave myself the challenge of creating one new recipe one time per week. The goal is to slow down enough to go shopping, find all the ingredients, and enjoy the process of making something thats packed with nutrients.

Reengaging with the process vs only the outcome

One common factor across these three everyday additions is that they force more focus on the ‘process’ vs. the end result. By being more focused on the process, I find more gratification in the end result. I enjoy the sound of the music more, I love seeing the film came back after being developed and I swear, the meals that I prepare taste so much better.

For me, forcing myself to reengage with the process of getting to the outcome has helped me feel more fulfilled and has forced me to stay in the moment more.

What are some things you can do to ensure you’re living more intentionally in the moment?

Think about it,

MJ