I took this photo of Kylie a few days ago. I had just walked out of the bathroom to catch her looking at me, resting contently in the big maroon chair in our living room.

I found myself wanting to move the floral arrangement you see in the forefront. But if I took the time to do that, I’d lose the sweetness of the moment with Kylie’s eyes that were reaching out to me in her own language of love.

So I grabbed the camera, clicked on macro setting, and took the picture.  When I brought it up on my computer I loved how it turned out. It seemed, for me, to capture the moment perfectly. I was glad I followed my impulse.

Working on my new book, Joie’s Gift- Finding Purpose in the Pause I’m having many thoughts floating around in my mind before they make it onto my computer. I’m working hard to capture them in the moment. This isn’t something I’ve always done.

In the past I’d scribble a note or two to come back to it when I sat down to my scheduled time to write. Sometimes that has worked, but often times, I’d lose much of the depth around what I wanted to write—and the right words just wouldn’t come when before that they had felt so good and so right.

I’m still making notes when I think of things that I feel would be good to add to my new book. But something different I’m trying to do is capture those times when something is really speaking to me from my heart. These usually happen between 2:00 and 3:00am or just as I’m waking for the day between 6:00 and 7:00am. The thoughts are so fresh and close to the surface. I find myself repeating them over and over in my head afraid of what other thoughts are going to start invading for the day.  And we all know how many oodles of thoughts we have go through our mind in a day!

I tend to be a very routine person, so this can be a challenge for me to follow that stream of thought that is begging me to be written. But I’ve started to follow the impulse.

I do find I have to convince myself that  I don’t need to feel guilty for not doing my yoga first, taking a shower, or looking presentable. Once I give myself permission, I march myself, hair sticking up and all, sleep in my eyes, out  to my writing cottage.

The other morning when I did this, I wrote 1,000 words in less than 30-minutes. When I was done, I felt euphoric. I also wondered,  where did the time go? I was in this place of complete contentment, lost in my own little world where time does not matter. I was happy. Not only that, I felt like I had accomplished so much!

So that is my challenge to myself, to allow myself to follow these impulses and see where they take me. From what I’ve experienced so far, it is a pretty cool way to live… a simpler way to live, really…just don’t tell the part of me that wants to be all neat and routine about things.