Early this morning I got a tornado warning on my phone.

Looking out the window I saw both blue and grey, but nothing clearly threatening, so I took my coffee outside to get a broader look at the sky. While sitting in a lounger on the back porch, my cat Dixie wandered up, mewed as she looked at me, then promptly jumped up into my lap for some love.

As I sat there petting her, watching her close her eyes in delight and hearing her purr happily, I realized how content she was at that exact second. As I stroked under her chin and rubbed behind her ears, I became immediately aware of how in the moment animals are by nature.

She had zero concern of tornado warnings, so I decided to give it a try myself.

I let my focus flow freely between the smell of the increasing breeze, the sight of tall trees swaying in the wind nearby, the soft feel of fur beneath my fingers, the sounds of birds lulling overhead, and the taste of warm, sweetened coffee.

Often we completely miss out on or discount the amazing sensations of our five senses because we are too worried about something that already happened or could happen in the future. In doing so, we take ourselves out of the moment and miss out entirely on the now — the actual experience of our lives.

Dixie’s pretty smart for a cat.

— The Impostor