To Be Present to the Present

"Open me up to the magic and possibility

of living within what my dear friend calls

“the grace of the day”—

where every gift is savored

for as long as it lasts,

like being lost in a song,

swimming in its layers,

fully present, strangely free,

wanting nothing more from life

than dancing into the next tune.

All is a gift from you for me.

Thank you, Lord."

Stephen Copeland

When I was working at Boeing, I had a desk sign with a simple mantra, "Be Here Now". I recall that this desk sign was distributed to all managers as a reminder to be present to the present moments. I remember liking the motto or mantra, "Be Here Now", because as a manager I really wanted to live this way, to simply be fully present to everyone that came into my office. I just had no idea how one did this when you're "up your eyeballs in alligators" and swarmed with so many things I was concentrating on getting done that day. Strangely, even being retired now for nearly 10 years, I still am trying to live up to this "Be Here Now" mantra.

The prayer at the start of this blog, comes from a daily email titled "Sabbath Moments by Terry Hershey". I really liked the idea of opening up to the magic and possibility of living within "the grace of the day" - where every gift is savored. This idea of savoring the moments might be a key to this idea of trying to be present to the present moments.

To savor something means you are focusing your attention onto one thing. We often hear this in the context when we are enjoying our favorite food. You linger and take your time to savor every bite. So, here is a crazy thought, what about practicing more mindful eating, where you are focusing all your senses onto what you are eating or drinking? I sure could do a lot better at mindful eating! The fact is I am really bad at it as I eat way too fast and am always reading something while I eat. Why am I not content with focusing my attention on just one thing at a time, like just eating and drinking?

I suspect I must be a "serial multitasker". In fact, it is our cultural norm today, even our "badge of courage". I know I did it a lot when I was working at Boeing and I still do it today quite a bit. It is indeed a hard habit to break!

Although I recognize I have a lot of room for improvement, I do recognize that I do have times and situations where I am very good at being present to the present moments. When I am in nature and especially when I am hiking, I fall into a different state of mind. I am more fully alive and present to every detail. I often see things others will walk right by or never see. In fact, I suspect this is one of the reasons I am good at photography.

The photograph I took at the top of this blog is an good example. During a hike at mid day through a dense forest, I was stopped in my tracks when my eyes came on a shaft of light that was hitting this Trillium plant and was casting a shadow of its flower onto its leaf. I love this image. It speaks to me about how fleeting are the moments of beauty that I am walking right by everyday because I am not savoring and being more present to the present moment.

So, how do I get better at this not just when I am in nature but in the midst of everyday life? What are the obstacles that get in my way? What are some of the practices or exercises I can do to be better at it? I have some more thoughts I would love to share with you in later posts but for now, let's just Be Here Now!

John

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Red Paintbrush

I created this composite image of a Red Paintbrush flower taken this summer during a hike up to Gothic Basin (a very grueling but rewarding hike). The Red Paintbrush always seem to me to be screaming at me to look at them with the deep crimson color.