Among the things that I am on my way to unlearning from my mother’s teachings, is not having time to pause and breathe. Like any other mother, Maa is always in a hurry, never waits to pause, or to breathe, and never stops to appreciate the beauty of a moment.

Maybe all mothers are alike. Mothers have so much to do, they are keeping track of things that are done and yet to do, always checking their to-do list, and finally, at the day’s end when they find some moment to stop, they feel too tired to appreciate life. At that moment, all they want is to fall asleep and call it a day.

But we, daughters, have ample time to celebrate life, don’t we?

I am a lover of simplicity. I am a believer in momentary miracles. I am an admirer of the beauty of little things. And thus, I practice mindfulness at every step.

I have been there cursing and hating life for a long period, and when I did this, I disconnected myself from all the good things in life. Thus, when I brought myself back to the rhythm of life, I grew the habit of taking some moments to appreciate life, to pause and ponder upon the beauty of everything around me.

I stop while walking, or observe people around me, and sometimes I find wonders in them. One such evening, I went stroll in our courtyard. As soon as I stepped outside of the home, and came downstairs from the porch to the courtyard, I saw there was blazing the evening prayer lamp at the Tulasi Mancha, and besides that, there were white Tagar flowers laid on the ground. The sight gave me peace.

It was blissful to watch the sight of white flowers and the blazing lamp. I felt so much peace of mind that it seemed like I don’t have any stress or worries in life. I kept walking in the courtyard and watching the sight to have a blissful accompany.

A few days ago, I went to Kolkata. While going there I had a handful of good things to observe and some of them taught me valuable life lessons. Some of them gifted me with a moment of innocence when I smiled with all of my heart. Some of them gifted me pure joy when I felt a divine pleasure. Some of them were random street sights that brought me a glimpse of the cacophony of life. Some of them showed me how beautiful it feels when we give without any hope of expecting anything in return. Some of them taught me the meaning of recycling, and that we all are living in a cycle of sorrow and happiness.

All of them brought me the essence of life when I savored the moment, paused for a while, and captured it in my heart.

When I have a period of despair engulfing me to the bottom of sadness and low self-esteem, I try to take myself back to the rhythm of life by savoring every moment, slowly, one moment at a time.

Surprisingly, I find gems of moments that make me pause and breathe, to sing a song of joy, to dance with the raindrops, and they all shower me with the petals of bliss.

It feels like a sunflower is turning her face towards the sun, slowly, waking to the first ray of dawn.

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(This post is part of the series ‘Solace in the Mundaneness’ where I try to tell stories of the everyday things that capture a special place in my heart and they make me feel privileged to live a simple and ordinary life with contentment and peace. This post is also part of Blogchatter A to Z.)