I was at the park yesterday with my two kids (ages 2 and 4.) It was a blistering 90 plus degrees, and, as a result, there weren’t too many people milling about. In fact, it was just the kids and me for a long stretch.
As we were walking across one of the empty basketball courts, the kids came across a dead bee on the pavement. “He’s sleeping,” I said, not wanting at that point to get involved in the life/death conversation.
They leaned over the bug, watching for signs of movement.
In that moment they decided that the bee needed some “snacks,” given that when he woke up he’d be hungry (naturally.) So they started busily collecting pine needles, pine cones, grass and rocks (apparently, bees eat rocks,) and stacking these things on top of the bee.
This whole process happened silently, for the most part. The pile of “snacks” grew ever larger as my kids worked with purpose.
I took a seat in the shade. It was hot, to be sure, but there was also a decent breeze. The shade/breeze combo made it reasonably comfortable.
After a few minutes of sitting and watching in silence, I realized that I was…content. Perfectly content in that moment.
Sun shining…breeze blowing…kids playing quietly. Silence. It was awesome.
It’s difficult to overstate this, because it’s been so long since I’ve been able to experience a daytime minute of peace and mindfulness. There are seemingly millions of stressors at my doorstep these days: work-related; kid-related; health-related, and then some…
It can be difficult to pause and take a deep breath.
No doubt some will read this and think I’m insane. Truthfully, I would have thought the same a few years ago…before kids. Fact is, it’s rare for my kids to actually play quietly AND without arguing for any decent length of time.
I love my kids dearly, don’t get me wrong. But the bee experience was wonderful, and it colored the remainder of that day — in a good way.
If you follow along on this blog, you know that my loose definition of “wellness” skews heavily toward fitness and paleo nutrition. So you may be wondering how this heady stuff abouts bees and serenity fits in.
My answer: I don’t really know for sure (does anyone?) But I do know that keeping stress to a minimum — including dietary stress — is key to health and life wellness, regardless of your strict definition.
Can these true moments of calm and mindfulness be manufactured, or do they just happen?
In any case, I’m not going to ponder the bee moment and the meaning of life for too long — that’s not my style. But I am looking forward to the next “moment” whenever, however, and wherever it happens.
-Mike
Photo: Hector Guerra
Tags: fitness, health, life wellness, vital wellness
