Less Wrapped, More Rapt

"This holiday season consider making your (true) presence a present to as many 

people as you can. Less wrapped. More rapt." 

Lisa Valentine 

Quoting myself today. Not something I usually do, but this one fits nicely here. It is from my first-ever paid and published piece. It ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in the Opinion Exchange section on December 5, 2010 with the title of "Slow down; you move too fast."  I was thrilled then, and honored now. Reading it again, the message within is just as timely as it was 11 years ago. 

I am not one to get too crazy at the holidays. I typically enjoy them and the time off from school. But I am one to just get too busy with life on a regular basis.  Taking my own words to heart, I captured some rapt moments in the last day.

I also captured a couple of pictures. This first one is a Trader Joe's bag. We shopped there over a week ago and I put the the bag downstairs for a few days because it had holiday baking supplies in it. I surprised myself when I brought the bag up and actually noticed the cute design on it:

And I paused yesterday afternoon to again be enthralled by our neighborhood squirrel population. Shortly after I took this picture, the squirrel almost took a tumble. Quite the acrobats! 

I did do some holiday treat making and some time-at-home downsizing of what I tend to amass as a writer, reader, blogger, and gratefulness believer. I took time for a run and relished dusk across an open field on a winter evening. I also noticed others enjoying the outdoors in different ways . . . a kid on a bike doing some minor stunts in the snow, a family enjoying their backyard ice rink, and a truck hauling a snowmobile. Winter in Minnesota. 

This morning, it was the comfort of a favorite blanket, recliner time next to my husband, and the entertainment of our dog Oliver stretching and rolling on his back. 

You can read the full text of the essay in Presence as Present from August 30, 2012.

And read more in these two posts as well:

Presence as Present: Revised from six years plus one day ago today. 

Less Wrapped, More Rapt (a.k.a. Joyfully Inquisitive) from six years ago today.

More importantly, put down the task at hand a few times today and relish in the giving, and receiving, of rapt attention. 

I will be taking a blog break into next week. Happy Holidays!  Less wrapped. More rapt.