Oh I have had a day. A good, being in the moment, counting my blessings kind of day. This is how my day went, more or less. On my mid-morning woods walk I listened to Eckhart Tolle read his book “Gateways to Now” (2003?) - his soothing accented voice made me smile and nod in agreement. Lightbulbs going off every few moments as he talks about thoughts and how we relate to them. I highly recommend his writings to everyone!
Then, I passed a man I had also passed on Monday - apparently we are on the same schedule. Monday we gave each other a slight nod. Today we gave each other a nod and a smile. Two walkers recognizing we have crossed on this path before. It was a silent but lovely exchange. Next I passed a man and his dog and as the dogs sniffed, he spoke to me in Swedish so I went through my routine of apologizing for not speaking the language. He asked what I was doing in Stockholm to which I replied, enjoying the Swedish landscape. He responded - “The landscape is all we have The rest is shit.” And while he said it in a jovial manner, he meant it and repeated it. If you look for shit - you will find it. I have many times conjured up the exact things I dread by dwelling on on the negative. And to get all woo-woo on you, I seriously believe in the manifesting power of thoughts. It has worked to both my betterment and detriment. I won’t go into all of that now, but it is something I feel in my bones. Thoughts are powerful. Also releasing yourself from thought is powerful and liberating. This is the “Now” that Tolle speaks about. And on my afternoon walk today - a stranger looked into my eyes and said “I love you.” She was an older lady using a walker and she admired my dog. I picked up Brando so that she could pet him easily without bending over. She talked to me in Swedish. After I told her I don’t speak Swedish, she said “I love you.” These might be the only three words she knew in English, but she repeated them and I felt she meant it. And in that moment that’s all there was - us connecting over a little dog and enjoying the sunshine.
