Apolysis and Sunsets

I feel like a caterpillar (image from google images) in one of the middle stages of instar wondering when my next apolysis will happen. Those who know me and are close to me have recognized that this personal process that I have been undergoing has had its share of both joy and pain. I had almost forgotten how to live in the moment and this blog has really allowed me to explore possibilities in which I had never before envisioned. Not only that, because I have made myself so public (something in which I am not accustomed to doing with my personal self), it has forced me to look a little more introspectively and become more contemplative before I publish my post. Possibilities are beginning to appear around corners that I never thought were there before. It’s a wondrous feeling.

Over the week-end, I took the kids skiing. We live 2 miles from a ski slope and we had never been as a family. Why? Why have we not taken advantage before of this wonderful opportunity? I think that its because it has always been there so I just took it for granted. Life is a gift! It should never be taken for granted! Why do we do this? Why have I let our lives become so “dog-in/dog-out”.

This week-end, after our ski lesson on Friday, the kids and I took the ski lift to the very top. Just as we were moving to the crest of the hill, you could see the sunset off to the west in the distance. I said to the kids, look at that! It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had seen in a long time. We glided off of the chair lift and stood away from the crowd and just stared out at the beautifully intense red, orange, yellow and purple hues that lit up the twilight sky. What was even more spectacular was watching the kids watching the sunset. My son immediately took out his cell phone and began taking pictures. My daughter commented on all of the beautiful colours. We live in a valley with tall surrounding hills so sunsets are very rare for us. I relished in the calm and beauty of sunset from atop the snow covered hill and took great pleasure from the appreciation that my children had with same experience. Today we are definitely not taking life for granted!

"When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”-G.K. Chesterton, essayist, novelist and poet