I've been thinking about these words since the year started. What am I giving my attention to? What is my intention when I do certain things.

While I was in Australia, and I would see something wondrous, I would fight the urge to document it right away. I wanted to enjoy the moment for what it was: my present. I wanted to live the moment with intention; not for attention.

I thought of this even in the way I speak to people. If I have to say something to someone, am I saying it in a way to bring attention or with intention? For example: maybe you don't feel as close as to a friend you have. Life has gotten in the way and the calls and texts have dried up. You can call them up and say, "Why don't you call me?! We haven't hung out in so long! What's the matter?!" That's bringing attention to the situation. Which of course works in certain situations. But, what if you said, "I miss you! It feels like forever since I've seen you, let's set a date to see each other. The intention is to close the distance. You're not blaming anyone, you're just letting the person know what you really feel and want in that moment. I miss you and I want to see you.

It doesn't have to be about closeness though, it can be about anything. Why are you doing something? So that other people can see what you're doing or because you want to do it? Is it bringing you what you want in the moment?

Sometimes, I feel like I've wasted a lot of time on things that just don't matter. However, if I didn't waste the time, how would I know what it is I truly value now? Hmm, that even sounded deep to me! lol But seriously, I took stock at what I did in 2016 and how it served me. I ended on a high, I'm generally happy and I have goals to meet. However, I wanted to think about how I can really get to the things that fulfill me. And I realized that it's me doing as much of what I want to do with the intention of satisfying my desire to be present. That sounds like a mouthful, but basically my intention is to be present in my life. I don't want to passively experience things. We're living in very uncertain times, I feel like everyday there is something changing, some new malevolence making moves. However, we're also in very inclusive times. You can pretty much get into anything right now. A lot of people are using their intention to be present and protest. Some are being more present in their inner circles.