Nelumbo (Image source: Pinterest, creator unknown)

Day 18: Expand the Moment

While you Wait to Write

Nadine JL
Nadine JL
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

What am I waiting for? The only time is now. Now is the only time I have, this small moment of time. If there is a job that needs doing, a commitment that needs fulfilling, I’d better get it done. For this moment will not last, and neither will the next. If I keep waiting for things to be different, for obligations to go away, for circumstances to change, for someone to give me their blessing, for someone to approve, for my writing to get better, for my motivation to increase, for inspiration to rise up, well then, the thing will never get done, and I will have wasted this time, the only moment I have, which is now.

Whereas, and on the other hand, if I choose to do the thing I need to do, in this exact moment of time, in this only moment I have, which is here and now, then I will in fact

e x p a n d

the

m o m e n t ,

the moment will enlarge, and grow, and evolve all on its own, a small seed, planted with a starting action, the action that stopped the procrastination, that stopped the waiting and started the doing, and began the expansion.

And the seed will sprout, and the sprout will grow, and the growth will bloom, and the blossom will open, and the blossom will produce a fruit, and the fruit will contain new seeds, and the fruit will fall or be consumed, and the fallen or consumed seeds will return to the earth from whence they came, and the dying plant itself will crumble and fall, and it will nourish the earth from whence it grew, and the earth will nourish the new seeds, the new seeds will in their turn grow.

And so by beginning, inside this my only moment, by putting down this seed, which in this moment and in this case was a title, and then a subtitle, and then a new line, and then a word, and then a sentence, and then a paragraph, and then a new line, I have taken hold of and opened the moment. This, my only moment, the only moment I have, which I am now holding onto with my gaze, and watching as it opens, like a blossom, like a large, glowing bloom among wide leaves of green, and which I am now here present with, and seeing the beauty in, and feeling grateful for, is getting larger and larger, and more and more meaningful, to myself and only to me, although I don’t feel alone, but rather feel connected, to all beings, and all moments, backwards and forward through time and space.

.

— —

Notes/refs:

  • This is Day 18 of a self-imposed 31-day “Write AND hit Publish” challenge, mostly using Jeff Goins’ “My 500 Words” prompts. Today’s prompt was “Write about Waiting.” I am growing weary of this exercise, and sometimes regretting having invented it and committed to it, but remain committed, to my word(s), at least.
  • Written in a moment which found me unable to write, which left me able to write.
  • Inspiration: Gertrude Stein, Zen Buddhism, Virginia Woolf.

Nadine JL

Written by

Nadine JL

Inhaling & exhaling words & images from current vantage point in Zone of Emptiness, France.- ̶T̶a̶g̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶m̶e̶l̶e̶o̶n̶.̶- Moved to bloomwords.com

The Hermit Crab Files

A crabby hermit commits to writing 500 words and hitting "Publish," for 31 days.

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