Present Tense

I am by nature not a very present-minded person. I'd much prefer to dream about the idealistic future. It goes without saying that dreaming of future hope might often marr our ability to live fully in the present. I keep expecting long stretches of contentment, only to find that happiness comes now, in small moments, sharp and stabbing, or soft and barely registered, momentary breaths of a sleeping babe.

I am in a bookclub, and we recently read the dystopia novel "Brave New World". (By read I mean I skimmed!) But one of the central thesis of the book is that it is better to have continual peace and comfort than any extremes of emotion.

CS Lewis once remarked that it is in these momentary moments of joy, rather than in the settled comfort and heartsease, that the past is transfigured, and shows forth its eternal quality.

So here are my moments of happiness for the last few days:

Sitting on the black snail sculpture at uni, eating cherries with Sandy and engaging in a pip-spitting competition.

A barrage of bad puns in a facebook message with a friend. Plantea (plenty) of Plan and Tea was the worst.

Finding Jalna yoghurt on sale at Coles.

Funny Italian chap at Brunetti's who threw the plastic lids of coffee cups on a pile like a frisbee and then apologised for his agression.

A baby who couldn't stop laughing at me at the stoplights on Lygon Street. I don't know what about me made her laugh, but she didn't stop.