When life seems ugly :: OM [one moment] meet up

source: Macgidtosh

Since starting our weekly OM meet up back in April of 2010,  I've been surprised at what "moments" jump out at me during any given week.  Part of the excersice, for me, was to simply appreciate any thing (big or small) that made me cut through whatever momentary/daily/weekly fog I was lost in.  For the most part, it's just the daily grind of life:  parenting, work, home, finances, safety, balance, etc.

On the heals of both the anniversary of 9/11 and the horrific Carson City shooting, my mood this week was hugely somber.  Since Tuesday morning, I had that awful pit in my stomach that lingers and generally overshadows every thought or action throughout the day.  My eyes constantly welled up like tears would fall at any time.  This week, I really needed a moment of clarity.  

Last night I took Sophie out to our side paddock (her private bathroom) for her nightly break.  Typically, I stand there while she does her business.  This time, I pulled up a bucket , sat down, looked up to the sky and took a deep cleansing breath.  The moon and stars are spectacular out here.  The sky is big and typically clear.  The moon was glowing so bright it had an amazing aura around it. I felt like the universe told me to simply breath.

In less than 5 minutes the clean air, glowing moon, sparkling stars gave me the moment I needed.  For that moment, I saw the beauty in life.

How was your week?


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Organizing a meet up :: OM [one moment] :: wanna join?

It is so easy to get caught up in our own world and lose sight of little moments and things along the way. We are all so busy with family, work, school, worries, life. Every day activities become routine:

Get up, get out of bed, get kids off to school, shower, work (email/blog/tweet), walk dog, work some more (orders/shipping/designing), kids come home, run kids to activities (music/sports), dinner, kid's bedtime, work some more, my bedtime.

wash, rinse, repeat!

Personally, I've been trying to take note when something catches my eye for the first time. It may be a thought, a product, a sound that causes me to pause. It's that one moment that shakes me out of my routine fog and makes me smile, wonder, breath. I've somewhat referred to these moments in past posts here, such as dropping E off at school. But recently, I've made it a point to actively look for these little moments. 

Walking Sophie the other day, my newest life routine, I realized that I hadn't noticed some things very close to my own home.

I began to notice my neighbor's beautiful doors, cute porches, yellow fire hydrants (and where each is located). I've lived in this neighborhood for 6ish years. I'm just now noticing these things?!

[Note: I may have to look into my fire hydrant obsession.]

I thought I'd organize a meet up so that we could share and encourage each other to pause in our individual lives. After all, it's these little moments that get us through the day and connect us with others.

Just look for one moment in your day, week, or even month. If you have a blog, share it with your readers and link back here [an added SEO bonus is that we will be sharing links]. If you are on Facebook, I'll start a discussion page and you can share there here. I'll create a group on Flickr so you can share there, too. Or simply leave a comment.

I'll be adding more info, links, and an OM banner to this post before the first meet up next Friday.

[update 4.10.10] Below is a button you can use in your post to redirect your readers to this post for further information.  Simply copy the coding in the box and place it in your blog post or sidebar.




<a href="http://www.alamodestuffblog.com/2010/04/organizing-meet-up-om-one-moment-wanna.html" target="_blank"><img alt="om [one moment] meet up" src="http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx125/alamodestuff/OM_alamodemeetupbutton.jpg" border="0" /></a>
Your moment can be a thought, something funny, any product (so long as it's not gratuitous self promotion), a picture, etc. My goal is to prompt you with a post every Friday (if you are posting on a blog, you don't have to post exclusively on Fridays, just link back whenever you post).

We can encourage each other to stop and smell the flowers!

What do you think?   Will you join me?

[update] Below is what will appear at the end of each OM meet up post (every Friday). If you are a blogger and want to link back, you simply add your name and link to that Friday's post. Your link will be added to the list.  If you are excited about this meet up, you don't have to wait 'til next Friday. Share one moment now and link below!  Let's get this party started!