I’m happy to announce the winners of last week’s writing contest in which I asked you to set a timer and give yourself five minutes to write down everything you love about your life right at this moment, right now. What, you might ask, was the point of that? Because to live our own best lives, we have to claim them. We have to own what our lives are. “Look to this day,” said ancient Sanskrit poet Kalidasa. “For it is life, the very life of life.” We have to look right at this day and even more, right at this moment. Those little moments of life are all that we have. Then we can really, sincerely and truly find gratitude for all that we are and are able to appreciate our lives and who we are right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, the envelope, please!

From Maeve, who has a blog, things to adore, which not only includes moving excerpts from her writing but also a link to her etsy shop where she sells her itsy-bitsy adorable bracelets for babies and us regular folks:

“I love to feel the new life in my belly wriggle and kick. I love when my husband takes our kids on special adventures along the ocean shore – enjoying it as much as they. I love the sun shining through my curtains to give my room a fresh glow, even when it’s messy; when food hits the spot; getting to know new friends.
I love how writing, if even just for a spare moment, clears my head and fills my soul.”

From Nadine C. Keels. Her blog has some wonderful insights into spirituality and strength. Check out the excerpt from her novel, Yella’s Prayers:

“At this precise moment, I’m thankful for the power of forgiveness, the changing of seasons, and raspberry swirl loaf cake. I love being able to do what I love to do, for as long as I’m able to do it. Life is short–I must live well. And why not smile and enjoy what’s going right, instead of waiting for something to go wrong? No one can add a day to his/her life by worrying about it! I’m glad that I can still smile…”

From Holli Witten:

“I just put my baby down for a nap and I’m thinking of the way her fingers curled around my pinkie and her grayish eyes, the way she looked up at me with eyes of love, the breakfast dishes piled in the sink, the magazine I forgot to read, the strand of dental floss on the bottom of the pail, the neighbor’s funny-looking cat with the black mustache, the distant sound of a police car peeling down the street…”

And from Jack Vazakas:

“I was strumming on my guitar, took a break, whistling, humming, shirts in the laundry basket, socks tossed on the floor, my girlfriend doesn’t like it when I snore, homemade granola baking in the oven, jasmine tea in the cup, and now I gotta get up and study some more…”

For next Friday’s writing exercise: We sometimes forget that life really is made up of those little moments. Some of them are sheer perfection when we’re conscious of it and we think: It doesn’t get any better than this. So, write for five minutes (don’t stop! Keep that hand moving across the page like Michelle Kwan on ice!) on That Perfect Moment. Where would you be? With whom would you be? Get out your quills and parchment and begin to scribble away. Send in your entries and I’ll be honored to include them.