Kirilee: A lesson that reminds us to enjoy the moment

Sometimes the people that make an impact on me I’ve never met. Here is an email I received after sharing the poem Slow Dance” by David Weatherspoon on radio.

Dear Dr John, I gained a copy of the poem you shared through the station and feel it should be shared with your readers.

Have you ever watched kids

  On a merry-go-round

  Or listened to the rain

  slapping on the ground?

  Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight

  Or gazed at the sun into the fading light?

  You better slow down

  Don't dance so fast

  Time is short

  The music won't last

  Do you run through each day

  on the fly

  When you ask "How are you?"

  do you hear the reply?

  When the day is done,

  do you lie in your bed

  With the next hundred chores

  running through your head?

  You'd better slow down

  Don't dance so fast

  Time is short

  The music won't last

  Ever told your child,

  We'll do it tomorrow

  And in your haste,

  not seen his sorrow?

  Ever lost touch,

  Let a good friendship die

  'Cause you never had time

  to call and say "Hi"?

  You'd better slow down

  Don't dance so fast

  Time is short

  The music won't last

  Life is not a race.

  do take it slower

  Hear the music

  Before the song is over.

For me the poem had particular poignance as it reminded me so much of a lesson I learnt after my mum died. As dad and I were painfully cleaning out her things, dad found a wrapped parcel with brand new never-been-worn lingerie with an astronomical price tag still on it. “Your mum bought this in town at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it.” His hands lingered on the material for a moment and he said "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion”.

I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my life. I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. We use our good china and crystal for every special event - such as losing a kilo, getting the e-mail to work again, the first camellia blossom.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I'm not sure what my mum would've done had she known that she wouldn't be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favourite food.

I'm guessing-I'll never know.

It’s a funny thing. No matter what the hassles with parents or kids we’re experiencing right now, strangely enough, in 10 years’ time, we’ll look back and say these were the good years.