Slowing Time Down

Enjoying the Moments

Hello and here we are hurtling towards the end of the year already!

Christmas decorations are in the stores, chocolate-covered sultanas are back at the supermarket - much to my daughter’s delight, flowers are blooming in gardens in Australia and the southern hemisphere, and colours are changing on the trees in the northern part of the globe.

As children, many of us heard a parent say how they couldn’t believe how fast time was flying. I did and never understood it.

These days, I try not to say the same, but still hear myself saying similar with friends now that I’m an adult and my life is dictated by the turning of school terms and sports seasons. I am currently on school holidays and we are soon to venture into the final term of my daughter’s first year of high school. She is taller than me and bossing me around every chance she gets! Where did the years go?

Even if you’re not restricted by the school calendar, it’s hard to deny how fast time can seem to go at times. My friend, Dr David Hamilton, says that the reason time goes fast for adults is because of routine and not experiencing enough newness, whereas children are always trying new things so are more present and hence, time goes more slowly.

It's not just time that is going fast, it is life.

Mine, yours, anyone who feels the quickening of time.

If a year has flown by, then we are basically hurtling towards our expiry date. It will be here before we know it. One day, and it could end up feeling sooner than later, that’s it. It’s over.

This is why it is so important to recognise the sacredness of time!

(And yes, in Australia, we spell recognise that way!)

It is also why it is equally important to commit to living as presently as possible, to notice new things, to try new things, and to embrace variety and simple moments for the richness they actually offer.

The other day while at the clothesline, a routine thing, I tuned into the birds singing all around me and it was wonderful. Spring sunshine was perfect, the dogs were asleep on the grass basking in its warmth, my daughter’s voice rang out through her bedroom window as she sang and I just paused. It was a simple, regular moment but so perfect.

These are the moments that slow life down if we can be present enough to be with them fully.

That’s your challenge for the fortnight: breathe in the moments!

Thank you to everyone who writes in after receiving the newsletters. Even though I can’t reply personally, please know I appreciate your time in writing and enjoy reading your mail. I can’t always write on subjects some of you ask for or get into dialogue on other themes, but I still show up here as best I can each fortnight. In the meantime, I also honour the sacredness of time and the passing of my own life, with as much presence as possible and space for the other things of importance. This is living with a commitment to no regrets.

I send you all love and appreciation.

Breathe in the moments!

Bronnie.

PS. Before becoming an author, my creativity poured into my songwriting.

In 2012 and onward, a disease struck my hands and fused most of my finger joints and my wrist joints, so I can no longer play the guitar. Even though those days feel like a lifetime ago now, I’ll always be grateful for them, especially since I didn’t write my first song until my mid-thirties.

I’ve just shared a few performances on my YouTube channel. (It’s also where you find my vlog.)

 “Treetops” is from my first album, “Sun Showers, and is for all you romantics out there.

“Bendigo Street” is from my second album, “Songs for the Soul”, and is my gentle but important anti-war song, told from the perspective of an old lady whom I had cared for in a previous role.

 “Vanessa” is also from my second album, “Songs for the Soul”, and tells the unique tale of me being given a stack of someone else’s belongings when I was ready to settle down again after years of roaming. All the belongings were supposed to be thrown out, according to some inhumane, tangled, legal mess. But the person responsible for doing so phoned me and asked if I needed anything. The name “Vanessa” was engraved on one of the cooking knives.

The locations and years of each song’s performance are in the video descriptions on YouTube.

All songs are also available through all the usual streaming channels. I hope you enjoy them.

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