What if you decided to stop?

Just for a minute.

Maybe two.

To put down your phone, switch off the news and look at something besides your screen.

What if you decided to stop and just pay attention?

Not to all the noise and chatter and panic and stupidity swirling all around us – blocking out any sense of peace or hope or sanity.

But what if you decided to stop and pay attention to that still, small voice you know is still alive somewhere, buried deep inside your gut.

That muted, ancient whisper that chews inside your belly

Begging you to listen

To wake up

To realize you’re here

That you exist

To remind you that hope and love and joy and peace are realities that don’t depend on what is happening on the outside

To touch that place where love and laughter and longing hold each other up

To remind you that life is real, right now, this moment, right here, right where you are

Whether you’re wallowing in muck, waxing your Mercedes or saying goodbye to someone you’ll never see again.

At least not in this life.

That voice that reminds you that you’re alive.

And while you’re alive there’s still a chance to live.

A chance to give your life away.

A chance to love someone and remind them how amazing they are

And the difference they’re making just by being a part of your life.

What if you decided to stop?

Just for a moment.

To take a deep breath

To smile with your eyes

To drink in light and color and shapes and movement

Dancing to rhythms played by the wind and dust and stars swirling overhead

Invisible for now

But not forever.

For the day will come

And sooner than we think

When silence will sing the songs

That lull us back to sleep

And stillness, like a blanket, will lie heavy while we dream

But not today.

Today we can stop

Today we can open our eyes and our ears and our hearts and our spirits

Today we can love

Today we can decide to live

To be alive

To share our voice

Our words

Our presence

Today we can live

Today we can love.

Today.

If we just decide to stop.

And maybe then to start.

A new breath

A new beginning