A Moment of Presence

I was sitting at a stop light the other day and I saw a bug on my windshield. I knew the light would be a couple of minutes so I decided to practice just being in the moment and being present to what was around me. I noticed the bug and decided to just really look at it and see it without naming it or judging it. I just looked at it as an unknown creature, something I’d never seen before. Much to my surprise I found him completely fascinating. Instead of being turned off by him because he was a bug, which would be my normal M.O., I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was about a quarter to half an inch long and beetle like in nature. As I looked closely I could see him scratching one of his legs. Then he did some break dance moves with his head, then scratched again. It was almost endearing in an odd sort of way. He made some more movements that were dance like and quite amusing. Another scratch and a little head grooming and After about a minute he finally seemed ready to go. He lifted up what looked like four wings, almost lady bug like in nature, and in what seemed like slow motion slowly lifted straight up then took off up over my car. I was mesmerized. It was almost as if his show was just for me. Now if anyone had told me I would get complete enjoyment out of watching a bug on my windshield while at a stop light I would have thought they were crazy but I have to say the experience brought me sheer joy.
It’s interesting how things seem different when we look at them with new eyes. Seeing things without labeling or naming them changes them in many ways. If we could do that more, in all aspects of our lives, life would take on new dimension and new meaning. Everything would be appreciated. It’s interesting how much we take for granted and how much detail we miss in our lives simply because we’re always thinking and always somewhere else in our heads rather than present to what’s right in front of us. It was an interesting experiment for me, one that I intend to repeat as often as possible.