being present

these past few weeks i find myself constantly looking for something in the future to look forward to. A trip, a phone call, a purchase, an event of some sort...i'm finding it hard to just enjoy the moments as they happen and so this weekend is going to be about just that. being present. i just took a luxurious bath, set up my new bose system to play my favourite tracks, made a cup of tea, polished off the remains of a dark chocolate bar, and i received a call from two of my oldest friends in NZ.

i met elene when i first moved to timaru. she was in my class at south school and we bacame fast friends. amongst other things, we shared unusual names and feta cheese sandwiches. when i moved to gleniti school i missed my new friend but we were reunited in speech and drama classes with the infamous 'Denson'. i just realized that we have known each other for twenty years...wow.

and then there is justine who i've known about as long, our mothers became friends first i think, and we would see each other at various functions at another family friend's house...and then we ended up at the same highschool, hanging out with the same group of friends and having crushes on the same boys.

i have great memories of times with these amazing women and it was so good to hear their voices.

...and here is what happens when you are present. as i was typing up this little blog entry i got a call on my mobile from an 'unknown' number. i was hesitant to answer it, but i did. the call was for 'Garett'. Garett is the person who used to have my number. i get calls for him about once a week. it's always a bit sad when someone calls for Garett because i have to tell them that this isn't his number any more and you wonder why Garett never passed on his new details. i sometimes feel apologetic like i should know Garett. the calls haven't really bothered me. people get new numbers. people get old numbers. and i got Garett's number.

this woman who called didn't have a southern accent and for some reason we just started talking. i told her that this was no longer Garett's number and she said in passing that the reason she was trying to reach him is because he had expressed an interest in her screenwriting course. naturally, my ears pricked up at the words 'screen writer' and i told her about my background in film/media etc. and 40 minutes later i now have a new friend. she has been working in film in LA and Chicago for the past 10 years and now lives in Nashville and runs a screenwriting course which she has invited me to attend.

i'm so glad i picked up my phone.

i'm also happy that tomorrow i can sleep in and then spend two days doing whatever it is that i want to do. that is a luxury that i am not taking for granted.

xg