My reverb writing reflects a lot of what I live right now and have lived for a while. The photo - I love it so much! Was taken on a restorative photo walk on Monday. Random Water Fountain, automatically flowing... and flowing... and flowing. It simply is....
This morning Kat inquired like this: “It’s all too easy to put off loving where we are until everything is perfect. What can you love about where you are now?”
For the last few years my life has been shaped by the principle of loving what is.
One of my catch-phrases is “It isn’t good, it isn’t bad, it just is!”
I have become an advocate of minimal hyperbole and maximum “is-ness”.
In fact, my daughter Emma has caught the craving and has lately been the wise sage with her Buddha Moments. She reminds me so much of me that sometimes, in moments of pure cranky-ness, I lash out.
The other night, for example, we were on our way to the Apple Store after her IPhone 6 gave up after it had been dropped, shattered and just stopped working. I don’t like malls, I don’t like retails shopping, I don’t like crowds and I don’t like worrying about replacing expensive electronic gadgets.
I can’t remember what she said exactly but I can remember Samuel laughing when I very unelegantly - I know it isn’t a word but you know what I mean - said, “Shut up, Buddha!”
The phone got fixed for a lot less than a replacement and yes, I bought protective gear from the very nice apple salesman who offered to lend me a hand with my life and ended up giggling all the way home.
This is one of the ways loving what is shows up. It doesn’t have to be glittery or steeped in esoteric spirituality, it can be as simple as being upset and not hiding it. It can be as pure as telling a salesman, “I’ve had a rough couple days.” It can be as sweet as capturing the perfect sunrise photo and posting it on Instagram to the adoration of people who’ve never met you and even some who have met you.
Loving what is means all is well no matter what, like the favorite hymn says, “It is well, it is well, with my soul!”
Sometimes we need to talk ourselves into loving what is, but when we finally surrender to the need to live out someone else’s idea of perfection or happily ever after, all of a sudden what is becomes our happily ever after. You don’t have to live the myth anymore. You don’t have to make yourself wrong anymore.
Sure, I could be in better shape. Absolutely my bank account could be fatter. Yes, yes, yes I could’ve been more proactive in smoothing over certain areas in my life. If I waste my time lamenting what isn’t I miss out on the glorious of the simple “this”…. that even in Bakersfield, life can be grand just because.
Just because it.
Just because it is.
The light after the rain. (Yes, we are in a drought but that half inch of rain yesterday was so refreshing!)
The smell of the clothes I will take out of the laundry in a few minutes (Naturally I have many more loads to go but hey, at least I started this one!)
Poem in process along with a spontaneous #365feministselfie. I love the result. So me. So... me.
I wrote a haiku this morning after a long gap in this particular well-loved practice. I did! I did!
I sat in a fast food place this morning waiting for a friend who didn’t show up. Did I complain about her not showing up? No. I wrote in my journal. I conversed with a couple unlikely souls. I wrote a rough draft of a poem. I created a really cool selfie using an overlay of my notebook pages. Awesome!
I didn’t have to buy a book or take a course or “wait until this or that” I simple chose to live each moment fully just as I will continue to choose to love.
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This post was inspired by Reverb: most specifically the prompt from Kat McNally. You may follow along as well. Visit Kat's World at "I Saw You Dancing" and receive the prompts by email and plug into the extraordinary group of writers pondering, reflecting and taking action daily throughout the month of December.
Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Fall and Winter, 2014 and beyond. 
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