Arriving in the here and now

When was the last time you were completely immersed in a moment? Without worrying about anything, completely absorbed in what you are doing, not thinking about the past or the future, not thinking about the next shopping trip, not thinking about work, not thinking about going to the gym again, not caring about what others might think of you, whether it's right or wrong, whether you could do it better, whether you look good doing it, and whether it makes sense or not, whether the result is good or bad...
I have heard that there are monks who create sand mandalas, hours on end, only to destroy them the same day. A beautiful artwork, only to blur it when it's finished, to symbolize the impermanence of being. Why is it so often about the result or about something lasting for us? Many philosophies of life are based on the fact that you cannot change the past, and the future has not yet happened, and you should only live in the present. Children do that. Children can play with a toy for hours and be completely captivated in that moment. At some point, we lose this ability and start worrying about all sorts of things, life becomes more complicated, decisions need to be made, and maybe we even become a bit unhappy and don't really know why.
When you travel for a while, there are moments when this ability comes back. And after my stay in Maui, I would say that I have left the past behind, maybe even come to terms with it. And then came Kauai. And instead of ticking off an endless list of sights, something completely different happened to me: people and moments.
There was Emily, who dreamed of shaving her head and feeling liberated, and then just did it. Benji, who has visited all the states of the USA except Alaska. Alexis, who will soon sail from France across the Atlantic, the Panama Canal, and the Pacific to Polynesia. Blas, who has all sorts of plans for his own hostel, laundry, or building surfboards. Alex, who will turn her life upside down back in Germany. And we all came together in this hostel and shared the most valuable thing you can share: time. We hiked to waterfalls, swung into the water with a rope, jumped off rocks, built sandcastles, and painted mandalas for a whole afternoon. I don't know the age of most people, what they do for a living, or what they have studied or learned. When you travel, you get to know people in a completely different way, and things we tick off when we meet someone at home are completely unimportant.
It's amazing what happens when suddenly everyone has time, is relaxed, doesn't have to do this and that, and I only have one hour, then I have something else to do. In this moment, while painting mandalas, while sharing pencils and talking about everything under the sun, we were children again, only there for the moment. No before and no after. And these were the best moments of the entire trip so far.

So, meet up for brunch, take a pen and draw a round! You can't spend time any better. And then tell me how it was.