The snow is falling slowly, in its own time, on the evergreen. All is quiet. The New Year presents new possibilities and new questions. The possibilities are uncharted, the questions unanswered.

Still, the present moment is enough. What if we just reside in it, stop the running thoughts, and simply behold the surroundings? Take a moment to watch those snowflakes easing down, to look at the white on the green, the path of snowfall against a building’s beautiful stone or curving rooftop, or the swirling snow up in the sky.

What if we know that at this moment we don’t have answers for that project, that relationship, that ache, that plan, that ambition, that difficulty? We have this moment. We can breathe and notice it unfold before us. We can smile and feel peaceful, hear the wisdom of the ages in the tiniest chapter.

We are alive, and we can nourish ourselves with the beauty of now. As Thich Nhat Hanh writes in Peace Is Every Step, “Our appointment with life is in the present moment.”

The dance of snow changes directions. Outside, the wind chimes softly sound…ting, ting, ting, ting-a-ling. Oh moment, you are a gift!