May: Savor Every Moment.

Savor every moment.

If we embrace stillness of a moment, we can feel the weight of our journey. How far we've come. And gratitude in every inch of progress.

I remember when I spent a summer in high school studying music at the Summer Music Institute at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC. We had two concerts: an orchestra concert, and one for small ensembles. I was in the first violins for the orchestra performance. If you haven't had the opportunity to explore the Kennedy Center, it is a magnificent structure. And I have an appreciation for architecture and design. As I do with any opportunity, I go within myself and embrace the moment.

Every step. All of the practicing. The many times I couldn't master a chord or fingering. The moment I first plopped up onto the piano seat and started playing the ivories just to see what it was all about. Winning a concerto competition with the youth orchestra. All the other competitions I competed for and didn't even place. The struggle with practicing effectively and finding exactly what was driving me in music when it had already found me. The pieces that were missing. The days I just wanted to crumble from the weight and loneliness from the attack. The good days and bad days. Going from one artform to another - ballet to violin - where historically underrepresented Black people still choose to shine. Winning the songwriting competition in seventh grade for a song I wrote encouraging others when I needed all that encouragement for myself after the attack. And so much more. At the Kennedy Center, on concert day, I was already in the moment, walking out to my seat on the stage. Slowly. Not caring for whatever's going on around me. Looking out at the space. I'd wished my family were able to be there. Everything hit all at once. A moment of gratitude. (OK yes, some excitement too.)

Savoring is the ultimate being present and still enjoying something completely for what it is. We can be tired and still enjoy an Arizona sunset. We can be lost and enjoy fresh air breathing life into our bones. We can be ill and enjoy the beauty of a flower. Because we go thru too much not to. We don't have to go far to savor. To feel. And to be present. It's a mindset. A whole vibe.

Savor. Take that moment and do something with it.

That view through the glass window on the beach was alot of things in one moment. It was looking forward. Far beyond my eyes could see or even grasp. It was life. And being grateful for it.

Check out these songs that help set the atmosphere just right:

One Moment in Time, performed by Whitney Houston

Three Little Birds, by Bob Marley Lose Yourself, by Eminem

What made your list?

Stefany