Just stop. I mean it, stop. Now take a deep breath and think back to when you last savored a moment. I confess, that moment for me is now. I ran away from home last Saturday and am sitting on my friend’s back porch. The scent of jasmine surrounds me, the doves are cooing in their nests, the horses out back are swishing flies and blowing their nostrils. The Arizona desert warms up in dust swirls, with saguaro cacti jutting upward with lovely flowers perched on top.

Savoring each bite of my basil and feta, spinach and mushroom omelette, I wondered about the magic moment I have just discovered. Was it the absence of tech stuff? No, I’d had an early morning business call and had checked email. Was it that I slept in? No, the brief call was at 7:30 a.m. Okay, give it up I hear you say.

I decided the moment of paradise found this morning was that I believed that I had been released from routine. I’m typing away on my laptop away from my “office,” I’m eating breakfast on the back porch at 10:30, I did some business first, then I relaxed. Have I accomplished as much as always? um hm. But do I feel as “pressed?” Absolutely not.

So maybe paradise isn’t somewhere we go, maybe it’s someway we think. How much of your pressures are self imposed, or border on busy work? Are you stuck in a pattern that seems like drudgery? Is there a day of the week that you dread? And one that you look forward to? Imagine one of the activities, silences, spaces, delicious moments of your favorite day. And then put it smack dab in the middle of your most dreaded day. Not a gobble up the day activity, just one of those sweet moments. Practice one a day.

After all, back at home I have a lovely back deck with raucous blue jays and commanding crows. A place where the wind whispers in the pines one day and roars the next. Where my paradise awaits patiently, but I’m too busy to stop and let it soothe me.

Just stop. Step inside your imagination and find your paradise. This afternoon, give it a visit.