EMILY PRATT SLATIN

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She/Her/Hers Lesbian

Former Career Fire and EMS Lieutenant-Specialist, Writer, and Master Photographer.

I Often Think About The Idea Of Presence

February 14, 2025—Middletown Springs, Vermont (Home)

9:59 PM

"Life's most profound truths often hide behind quiet moments—in subtle glances, unspoken words, and the spaces between chaos and calm. It's there, in the stillness, that we discover who we truly are."—Emily Pratt Slatin

It's strange how the smallest moments in life can leave the most indelible marks. I've long believed that the vast majority of life happens not in grand gestures or monumental decisions, but in the fleeting seconds that we often overlook. There's a peculiar, poetic beauty in these unnoticed fragments of existence, easy to miss if you aren't paying attention.

Take, for instance, a single moment from my childhood. I was eight years old, standing barefoot on a sun-warmed spot in my parents back yard, watching ants navigate the cracks of my favorite tree that I called my dreaming tree. The air smelled of summer—freshly mowed grass baking under the sun's relentless heat. It was an unremarkable day, just an ordinary afternoon in the life of an adolescent girl. Yet, in that moment, I remember feeling completely alive. The world felt vast and endless, holding infinite possibilities. And though I didn't know it at the time, that moment would stay with me to recall in my darker moments—reminding me how life can feel full even when nothing extraordinary is happening or it seems everything is due to be lost for good.

As adults, we become conditioned to think that only the big milestones matter. Graduations, weddings, promotions, retirements—these arbitrary societal markers we're told to remember as way-points of a life well-lived. So, what about the in-between moments that we often overlook and forget? What about those nights I spent staring at the stars, or foggy mornings when the haze is just enough to soften the hardness of cold hard reality. I often think about the idea of presence—of truly existing in the here and now. It's especially difficult in a world rife with distractions. We rush from one obligation to the next, chasing deadlines and dreams, always reaching ahead to the next thing. But in doing so, how much do we miss? How many small, perfect moments slip through our fingers simply because we aren't paying attention?