The Always Powerful Now - the one thing I know for sure.

I've had the pleasure of spending the last three weeks on the road in Western Canada, planning, coordinating, and presenting at six nine hour events of about 40 - 100 people for my new job. Part of this means taking multiple flights, staying in multiple hotel rooms, taking multiple cab rides and eating out. A lot. With this crowd, it means some late nights and very early mornings. And it means the seems-to-be-recurring-in-my-life living out of a suitcase.

But, there were major highlights. I got to spend so much time with the food producers of Western Canada. At cocktail hour & dinner, I got a chance to visit with all kinds of these sincere, genuine farmers. This is a bit of a daunting task, considering my agricultural background, but people are people. I got to listen to their stories and struggles and hear their successes and laughter. I feel a bit silly saying this, but since getting into this industry and feeling the passion for wanting to know about food systems, I feel like they're all rock stars. After all, the ones who grow our food are the ones we need the most, every single day. I also had a chance to really bond with my colleagues. I feel like they are some of the most brilliant people I've had the pleasure to be around...and being on the road together for so long makes you feel like family.

On the weekends I got to spend time with friends & family in different places. Ash & Dean's social, which was so special to me as they are both my close friends. And a night with Aerin & Daniel, my sweets. Then off to my brothers for the second weekend, watching my nephew play soccer, seeing both brothers and getting to play Harry Potter with them! I was so lucky to have these breaks to have some downtime, to do laundry and to just remember to play.

Initially, I struggled a lot with the idea of leaving Kelowna for six weeks. I just moved there, just started creating a life with the people I've met there. And yet my family and friends all live out here. So as I struggled, I remembered the Power of Now. One thing these weeks have taught me is to more than ever be in the now. That's all you can do when you're going from a Regional Meeting in Edmonton to Calgary that night and waking up for a Client Event just to fly to Saskatoon the next day. All we can do is wake up everyday, organize our thoughts & get to work. The hope is that we're spending our days with people we really care about, doing things we're passionate about. 

Now I'm "home" (in my new hometown) with my dear family. As my newborn nephew comes into this world and as I get to spend tons of time with my two year old nephew, the whole "be in the moment" lesson becomes even more important. They literally grow up overnight. I'll wake up in the morning and be like, "What! How have you changed in the last eight hours?!" Seeing little Lincoln James open his eyes for the first time and start to take a look around, it makes you realize how incredibly glorious this life is. Imagine seeing it all again for the first time... We need to drink everything in while we can.

Sometimes I get caught up in all I want. I want another tattoo, I want to travel again, I want to be split into pieces so I can spend time with all of my friends who live around Canada and the world...I want to buy a home, but I want to belong to nothing and travel everywhere. I want to own a bookstore, but I don't want to be tied down. I want to adopt a Husky and yet I can barely be around for my cat. I want a garden, but I don't really have a place to start it yet.

Wants are fleeting. The only thing I need is to wake up and be present every day with the people I'm around, doing the tasks set out for that day. That's how you make a happy life. Once I really started doing that on this whirlwind trip, I realized it's the one thing I know for sure.