Don’t waste your entire life always waiting for the end of the day, for the weekend, for summer, for things to change, for something better. Enjoy as much of the present as you can. Now is happening. Now is good. Now belongs to you.

I listen to the rain talk to the leaves. She tells a story of love and leaving (isn’t that always the story? Isn’t that always the punchline?) She tells it softly like someone who has recently lost something that cannot be replaced. She closes her eyes and remembers. The leaves quietly wait. They love in silence. They understand in the dark. And I too begin to understand. We are all part pouring rain, part fallen leaves. We are all part of the world, and we all have a story.