Little Moments

He wasn't worried. Anxiety nowhere near. Stress not in his vocabulary, nor work on his mind. I possess not a hint of his story, but the corners of his mouth stretching towards his ears told enough.

The smile didn't cease, and neither did his feet. Back and forth they went, awkwardly dodging a small, giggling object that would under no circumstance be caught on the same side of the door as her dad.

She couldn’t have been more than two years old, and what she lacked in agility she made up for in perseverance. Each door of the Washington State ferry amongst the San Juan Islands had a glass pane, at the very centimeter of her max vertical reach.

Upon each rotation with pops, her hands would shoot up and latch onto the bottom of the glass window pane, and her eyes would follow right through the glass and land in the pupils of her father.

Her mouth never shut, with a two giggles and a glance she was back to other side. Nearly falling with each step, never to be denied or beat to the opposing side of the window.

And yet somehow, I find myself here... just watching. I couldn’t stop. Not in a creepy way, but intrigued. Tons on my mind, then suddenly nothing. Time stood still. Into a trance of simply being.

Trapped in a daze of simplicity and contentment coexisted to perfection. The to-do list and anxieties in my mind erased instantaneously like an Etch-a-Sketch.

The innocence and carelessness of the child. No clue she was on a ferry off the coast of Washington. No concern of the immaculate view just outside the on the deck. All that mattered was that door, and looking up at her daddy.

Dad probably had stresses in the back of his mind... work, finances, etc., but none of that mattered in the least. Not here. Not now.

Isn’t in funny how you find yourself in these moments... where you’re forced to be still?

Here I am, off the coast of Seattle meandering via ferries through an archipelago called the San Juan Islands by myself because I’m an idiot and booked the wrong flight date... and couldn't be happier.

I’m reminded that sometimes, make that the majority of the time, it’s the little things in life, the ones we take for granted or roll our eyes at, that make each day the precious gift that it is. Little moments like this are necessary to slow us down and take our eyes off of ourselves-- I know I need them.

Would love to hear one of your ‘little moments’ and how it helped you to refocus on what matters in the comments below.
Thanks!!