In today’s world, we have a belief that we can “do it all”, see it all, experience it all, get the best of all. With young travelers, let me be one of probably many people to tell you that you can not do it all. I didn’t believe this at first. I thought that we would be able to do SO much in EVERY place we stopped. Why? Because I wanted to experience it all. I haven’t traveled in years, and I felt like I deserved to experience all of it.
We were outside of a coffee shop on a side road in Santa Fe and I was wanting to go check out some shops on the main street. While walking over, our toddler sat on the step and did not want to go another step. We were on a little bit of a time crunch and I immediately felt defeated. But instead of picking him up and taking him to where I wanted to go, as I may have done in the past, I remembered my will to practice mindfulness. I took a deep breath. Upon looking down at him sitting so peacefully on the curb, I saw that he was watching ants. He was endlessly amused and curious about these small black creatures, FULLY into the experience, he was perfectly content. He was talking to them, putting stems of grass and pebbles in their paths, and giggling when he’d get close to touching one. We interacted with the ants for over half an hour.
In this moment, a new mantra came to me. Something that has stuck with me since this first stop along our travels: instead of sight-seeing, make everything you see a sight.
Those ants were surely a sight to my son. When I got closer, I realized that I don’t remember the last time I watched ants. It was a true practice of presence to be fully immersed in this simple experience with him. Slowing down is essential to being mindful. If you move too fast, you will be sure to miss something. My curious child would have missed out entirely on acting on his innate appreciation of nature by observation and interaction. We took time to meet our new ant friends, he practiced to be gentle and kind with these small creatures, and he was observing of how they moved and lived in their little ant world. A downtown shop would not have given him this, and it would not have given me as much joy as I had while being here with my son.
I invite you to notice, just notice, when you feel as though you need to rush an experience along your travels to get, see or be somewhere else. Take a deep breath. Look around. What is there now is worth seeing.
Eating, Traveling, Living Mindfully 