We are snowed in.
The prediction was 10 to 15 inches, but the current winter storm doesn't seem to have delivered anything close to that amount. Still, school is called off for the day, even for us homeschoolers, and we are relaxing and enjoying the down time.
Yesterday, I spent nearly a half hour sitting by the basement window trying to capture a photo of two plump little birds gobbling up birdseed around a teacup. It was so difficult to just sit and wait.
My mind was racing, I had a million things to do. I went through my mental list of things that just had to get done: laundry, lesson planning, cleaning closets ... while we had time. Time, elusive time--there never seems to be enough of it. Then when we have extra time, we don't know what to do with it.
I sat watching those two little birds hopping around the teacup I had filled with birdseed, hoping to lure them to perch on its side so I could capture a "perfect" image. I would share it all over social media to impress others; you know, a nice, striking winter image of me enjoying nature.
But would it be real? Or manufactured?
As a society, we have lost two very important abilities in recent years: the ability to wait for things and the ability to live in the moment.
I struggled to just sit and enjoy watching those birds without rushing off to accomplish things on my to-do list. I also struggled with the impulse of having to take a "perfect" photo. Social media has corrupted our minds to the extent of having very little concept of privacy any more, or simply enjoying things for their own worth, without needing to share them with the world.
These things are small tragedies.
I suppose this is why I am not online 24/7 promoting my books. I enjoy writing. I hope someday young readers will discover them. But I want to enjoy my life, and posting TikToks and such all day long takes away from that, destroys my family's privacy, and creates a false sense of reality.
So, if you stumble upon this post today, it doesn't really matter to me if you share it or not! Just read it and sit with it. Watch the birds. Let God speak to your heart. Take the time to enjoy each moment and stop rushing.
We only have today.
