The pause. Suspending time ever so briefly to notice, to feel, and to sense what surrounds you.  On this recent beautiful, light-filled morning, I took my breakfast outside to eat. As I sat at the "Samuels Cafe," I noticed the percussive sounds of the birds and insects. Their chorus was loud and varied. The foliage waved as the breeze gently moved the air. Patterns of soft light shifted and glistened as the sun danced in between the leaves. In the distance I noticed the occasional featherweight plant floating slowly from the sky to rest on the fern-covered ground.

Like my changing attention to the various sounds, my visual focus shifted too. The pattern of the light through the moving leaves highlighted different patches of the woods. It pulled my gaze to a particular tree stump or row of ferns or patch of grass. It was nature's way of showing me the beauty that exists.

The time is here to notice. The time is here to just be. It's there for you if you embrace the pause. Your moments of mindfulness are available to you.

In this corner of our world that is fixated on doing more, getting more, and being more, the pause is essential. Taking time to appreciate the present, to be in the present, to notice the present can shift your perspective to include gratitude, peace and calm.

Do you make time for the pause? What have you noticed? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

Oh yes! I’m sure you’ve heard this before. It’s not news that everyone has twenty-four hours each day. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you’re from. That fact is indisputable. Let’s assume that you sleep for eight hours a day. Sleep is essential for renewal of the mind and body. We need to use part of our day for rest.

After the eight sleep hours are deducted from your “time bank,” your remaining time each day becomes approximately sixteen hours. What we do or don’t do each day greatly affects the quality of our time and lives.

Are you a time savorer or squanderer? To squander is to waste something in a reckless manner, or allow an opportunity to pass or be lost. To savor is to enjoy, delight in, or appreciate something completely.

I’m not suggesting that you fill your time with constant activity. We all need unscheduled time for not doing. I am suggesting that you be mindful about your choices.

I offer you this quote from an unknown source . . .

“Time is precious. Waste it wisely.”

What is your relationship to time? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

Isn’t time interesting in that we identify it using certain markers? Our markers can include annual traditions like the arrival of birthday cards or preparing supplies for the new school year. Time markers can be from big life events like births, graduations, or moves. Time markers can even include things like our daily wake-up alarms or buzzers ringing when the cookies are done baking.

One of the time markers that have delighted me for the past several years is the blooming of the hydrangeas. They are the visual punctuation, which lets me know that my special vacation at the beach with my girlfriends has arrived. It’s a time to relax, to reconnect, and to enjoy doing and not doing. It’s a time to have fun, to be silly, and also engage in reflective thoughts and conversations.

There are many different types of time markers and ways to honor or recognize the passage and meaning of time. There are also ways that we purposefully want to lose track of time like when we sleep or when we’re on vacation.

My husband recently shared with me an interesting tool from timeanddate.com that helps you measure time from when something happened to a certain date (like today.) I can see this being useful in many instances, especially because we often forget things like how long we’ve been married or lived in our homes or have been at a job or in business. I don’t know about you, but the longer I live, the harder it is to fathom how long I’ve been doing certain things. Using the tool, I confirmed that . . .

• 33 years and 10 days ago I was married
• 26 years, 1 month, and 28 days ago I became a mom
• 23 years, 5 months, and 28 days ago I launched Oh, So Organized!
• 1 year, 11 months, and 28 days ago I became President of ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization)
• 3 days from now I’ll become Immediate Past President of ICD

What I do know is that time goes all too quickly. It’s important to savor the moments, to celebrate the markers, to be mindful of the present. Before you know it days will pass, then years, then decades. Life is a wonderful journey with many bumps along the way. Enjoy the joys and the challenges.

What time markers have you noticed? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!

Time whooshes by, as evidenced by the anniversary my husband and I just celebrated. Thirty-three years ago, on June 19th, I said, “I do” to this wonderful man. Since then, we’ve traveled, raised a family, hosted many parties, and experienced the heartaches and joys that life brings.

Something we learned from both parents, who were married over 60 years, was to honor, savor, and create treasured moments together. They understood that shared, happy memories make your relationship stronger and easier to navigate life’s challenges.

So, in the tradition of our parents and their sage wisdom, each anniversary, Steve and I celebrate and carve out time just for the two of us to play and enjoy. My mom refers to this as “the good stuff.”

This past weekend, we did just that. We made  . . .

Time for Love

From holding hands to conversing to writing each other love notes, we shared our love with one another.

Love is an active expression of words and actions, which doesn’t happen unless you devote time to your relationships.

Time for Noticing Details

There was plenty of time to slow down to notice the details. The days were leisurely. I had so much fun taking pictures of cityscapes, country-scapes, people-scapes and more.

Removing the schedule and list of to-dos helped us both see the world around us in new ways.

Time for Communing With Nature

Being in nature rejuvenates us. We took time to wander through gardens, walk along the river, smell flowers and trees, listen to birds chirping, and sheep baaah-ing.

We felt the strong sun and enjoyed finding shady spots with gentle breezes. We made time to enjoy nature.

Time for Relaxing

From sleeping late to sharing leisurely meals to hanging out on the High Line lounge chairs, we took time to relax and slow our motors down.

We removed the rush, rush of our normal days and savored the relaxing moments.

Time for Exploring New Places

While we’ve lived in the Hudson Valley for over 30 years, there are places we’ve never been. This past weekend, aside from visiting some favorite spots like the High Line and Red Hat, we also explored new places we’ve always wanted to see, like Wave Hill and Rockwood Park, both with magnificent Hudson River views.

Time for Just Being

I intentionally left my watch at home. This helped me detach from time. Normally, I’m hyperaware of time. There are appointments to keep and deadlines to meet. It was such a gift to suspend time, even for a few days. Breaks are essential to our well-being, our relationships, and our lives.

We each have the same hours in the day. We have obligations and commitments. There are ways to savor and honor the beautiful moments. How do you like to savor your time? Do any of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation!