Isn't it interesting how when we first meet someone and if the conversation last long enough you might well get asked the question, "What do you do for a living?". I know I certainly have asked this question as a conversation starter or as a way to begin to get to know someone a bit more. I think this question does seem to show how, whether we admit it our not, we are all about measuring our worth by what we do or accomplish in life. This certainly makes sense to me for it seems that is what we are all about in the first half of our lives and it is good.
Yet, this idea that our worth as human beings is tied to our efficiency, our earnings, or our ability to perform this or that certainly can take over as our identity as we grip it too tightly. It also can certainly can rob us of our capacity to experience, really experience the joy and wonder of the present moment.
"Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art then productivity." Maria Popova
I love planning and getting things done. It feels so good. It is addicting in some way. Even after I retired, I found it very hard not to try and fill my day and week with planning, projects and activities. It was still all about staying busy and getting things accomplished. It was what I was good at and it still does give me joy to see things get "checked off my list". Yet, there is a "far more intricate and rewarding" practice I have slowly learned since I have been retired, "the art of contemplative presence".
So, what the heck is "contemplative presence"? Well, for me it is embracing the daily practices that will slow down my active mind that simply continues to think and plan and get stuff done. Just constant think, think, think. I have created some daily practices that are very helpful in quieting and clearing out the babble and prattle of my mind. I am making a daily conscious decision to get off the "get stuff done or what's next on my list to do" stream of consciousness".
One of the steps in learning to slow down my fast moving mind was the simple act of acknowledging the thoughts and ideas (without continuing to process them) as they come into my mind. Strangely, this simple daily practice (I started out at 5 minutes a day) has helped me to be find some real peace in just being not doing. After practicing this now for a couple of years daily, I have noticed a huge difference in my life. I still maintain to do lists that I look forward to getting completed but I have learned to grip it much lighter. I am getting much more practiced in the "art of presence".
Do I sometimes miss what is right in front of me? Sure, but I can say, I am much more aware and awake to the moments of the day, like the song of the birds in the morning, or the way the clouds are moving rapidly across the sky, of the laughter of children playing nearby.
Am I able to sit in silence without thinking of what I need to do next? Absolutely. Am I more in tune with my own body and the beauty of creation, yes absolutely.
Yes, there is an art of learning Presence but I have found for me it all began when I committed to a practice, a daily contemplative practice of consciously slowing down my mind.
Now maybe when I am asked the question that I started this blog with, "What do you do for a living?", I might reply that I am retired now, I am not doing any more, I am practicing the art of presence instead, just being. Now that might lead to some interesting further conversation!
Peace and all good!
John
Nature Meditation of the Month
In my past blog I always included a photograph or two I called the "Photograph of the Month". I would like to start with this blog presenting a Nature Meditation of the Month. What is a Nature Meditation? It is the sound of nature that I have captured when I was hiking or vacationing. I capture a short section of a beautiful nature sound, like the babbling of a mountain brook in summer, or the sounds of birds near a pond in spring, or the rainfall on a pond in a forest. Recently I even recorded the sound of a hailstorm in a forest! These are the sounds I listen to each morning to practice the calming of my mind.
Here is this month's Nature Meditation taken recently during a hike on Cougar Mountain. It is a simple sound of rain drops on a forest marsh with a bird singing.
OK, I will leave you with one photograph.
This image was selected last year for the cover of the Edmond's Local News Magazine published once a year. It was taken on a cold clear winter day from the top of the Edmond's Library.
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