I set alarms.

I set alarms.

I set them because there are things I want to remember to do.  The “do” is generally something like a contemplation, a remembering, a touching gratitude.

Years ago I started with several alarms a day to remember to Appreciate Life.  It was a moment to zoom out a bit, consider the depth and breadth, the excruciatingly painful beauty of the human experience.  The point wasn’t to enjoy it, or feign to.  It was to acknowledge the moment as it was – raw and real. 

In 2021, in caring for my brother after a hospital visit, I was responsible for his meds.  I set alarms for those and carefully followed them.  But one day I accidentally doubled one of the meds, resulting in a slowed heartbeat and low body temperature. 

We got him through it, but it was scary.  I’d lazily set that alarm for 8:01pm; it became my Appreciate He’s Alive alarm, later transforming into appreciating how the quality of my life is so deeply enriched by the very human people in it.  

A book I read suggested taking time each day to contemplate mortality.  I haven’t landed on what happens before/after the life we experience as this particular density of energy, but it seemed like a valuable exercise to Consider Death and the cessation of this particular experience, so I replaced one of the Appreciate Life alarms.  

Over the years I’ve had alarms for Thanking Water, Pausing, Spinning, Laying on the Floor, and most recently for Visioning.  I run them all as experiments, to see how taking that time affects my day, my mood, the quality of my experience.  I’ve let go of many alarms, but the one that doesn’t change is 8:01pm.  I treasure taking the time to *love* the people in my life; it’s become an ingrained, invaluable practice which requires no alarm.  But it’s a good reminder.  ;)

I’d love to know: What do you do remind yourself of the changes you want to make in your life?
Feel free to e-mail me at reenchanting.moments@gmail.com.