The SunnyDay Cronicles

The SunnyDay Chronicles:

A Moment In Time

by Ashley C. Simpson

PHOTO BY As hley C. Simp son

It’s the little things in life that can make a day and bring one joy. The rare moments that make you thankful, grateful, and joyous! We all have those tiny moments in time where you think “I’m going to remember this moment. This very moment. This is my mental snapshot forever engrained.”

It’s a sense of calm like a truly great Sunday, a beautiful sunrise/set, or a gorgeous sunny day where all your worries and responsibilities are put on hold for just a little while. I love to do this, and whenever I catch myself in a new moment it often jogs my memory of the older ones. In today’s never-ending need for the immediacy of our attention on multiple things… all the time … and all at once! it’s important to remember that you can slow down for a second. You can take a pause and appreciate it NOW.

Recently, I was on a walk on our infamous beaches. My husband Carl and our dog Mac Brown took a seat in the pavilion while I went to use the restroom. I came back to find them

both quietly watching the Gulf waves. Silent. No one around. Just the sunset, the birds, and the breeze. Our dog is young, and I was thinking “I wonder what he’s seeing for the first time that has him so intrigued? Is he just enjoying the fact dad is next to him petting him and he’s smelling the air? Or is he watching the waves too?” Suddenly, and as if by a time warp… I was transported.

I was taken back to so many mental memories, little perfect moments in time. I remembered the first time I saw the redwood forest, a Hawaiian beach, and walked the rainforest in Costa Rica. I remember the lights of Miami and the smell of the hot dog vendors in NYC. I remembered the smell of my grandmother’s leather bible and my grandfather’s tobacco pipes. I remembered the sting of blackberry thorns I picked as a child and the cool morning dew on my arms as I waited for the bus. I remembered the flutter

of my heart upon my first kiss with my husband and the overwhelming joy of meeting my puppy (Mac Brown) for the first time after the loss of my 13-year-old soul dog Hudson. I remembered festivals and the beats pulsing through every cell in my being…. and more. So many things, and all of this in just a few minutes.

When you really stop to appreciate it, Life

TRY TO FOCUS ON THE THINGS THAT MATTER

is Amazing!! We have 5 senses we know of and not a single one of them is labeled social media! I have found that in today’s world of technology it is so gratifying to just feel human for a second. Experience the world through MY senses and not just the when, where why, and how others are experiencing life in photos or videos. All those posts that we look at, and all those posts we read- they are other people’s moments in time, But they’re not YOURS. Professional photographers are the masters of moments in time. They portray to you what they feel, or what their subject feels and 99% of their photos never make it to print. For a reason.

Being present in your own life is important and being fully present in a moment in time of your own is equally as important. As time goes by our memories fade, and the snapshot moment isn’t as vivid…. SO, we like to document our experiences to look back on them. This is so much more easily done with our tiny hand computers i.e., cell phones than ever before with film. However, when you can, Capture YOUR moments in time for YOU. Appreciate them as yours, share if you like, but just know others will experience them differently. I took a photo of my dog and my husband on the pavilion that day. They were having a very personal moment, and I was having my own watching them. Had I posted the photo others would’ve just seen a picture of a ridiculously cute dog and a very handsome man on a very pretty beach, but it was so much more to me. So, I took a mental snapshot as well and I kept it for myself.

There is a saying ‘The song remembers when….’ A song played can take you to a moment in time - the touch, the smells, the colors, the noise, the invisible beat that brought emotion. Hearing and seeing our memories relived is an amazing part of being human. *There is also the saying a picture is worth a thousand words, so capture your moments in time and cherish them…. as yours. Not just hidden in an app, but personal to your life. When you’re tempted to take a picture with your phone ask yourself why? What am I feeling right now that I need to document? Is this for me or for someone else? Personally, I love using rotating photo boards at home and even on the fridge. I know …I know …who has time to print photos? Digital picture frames work wonders too! But there is a reason people miss Polaroids- you can touch them.

In conclusion, remember that sometimes just being present is important. Touch, smell, feel, see, taste, and mentally take it in as yours. Days are long but Life is short. You never know how many great moments in time you will get.