Being Present is Hard
Greetings,
We hear it everywhere — live in the moment, be present, enjoy the now. It sounds simple, almost effortless. But in truth, being present is one of the hardest things a human can do.
Our minds are wandering travellers, ever to and fro between the past, which we can never change and future, which we never know. The immediate is so near us, but it tends to slip away.
Think about an ordinary day. When you are eating with your family, you are re-running the errors of yesterday. You are in the park and you are already worrying, about tomorrow and your deadlines. You lose interest even during the conversation as you rehearse on how to say what you are about to say rather than really listening. We are there in body, not in reality there.
Why is it so difficult? Perhaps it is due to the crudity of the present. It is safe, though painful, because we know the end of the past. The future is unknown but it provides us with room to hope or fear. But the present asks us to look like we look like, without filters, without an escape. That requires courage.
Technology brings in a new dimension. Phones, notifications, scrolls of information endlessly, all these pull us out of the moment. We take photos rather than experience it, send messages to others, not looking at the person next to us, judge life with the help of the screen rather than senses. Presence requires more focus, and now, it is no longer concentrated, but is instead shredded into a million digital bits.
But when we are able to be there the difference is obvious. Time feels slower, richer. A plain dinner is like a blessing. A walk feels like freedom. A dialogue is meaningful. Presence makes us see the things that we have overlooked most of the time: the rain is falling, a smile is tender and kind, our breath is warm.
Presence does not imply a lack of reference to the past or the futures. It is the practicing of having utmost respect to the moment we are in. It is listening without being in a hurry to respond, it is eating without interruption, it is working with concentration and it is taking a nap without feeling guilty. The little conscious things can work, take a deep breath, become aware of the colors we see, be thankful of what is here, what is now.
But wonder of wonders, this is not a perfect thing but a practice. There will be times that our mind will not focus regardless of our efforts. And that’s okay. Presence is never about making the mind think but just guiding it, back and back, as one takes a child home when it goes out.
The fact is that, it is difficult to be present as it is precious. Life only happens in the present, not in the past, in the dreams of the future, but now, within this brief and short lived moment.
Then perhaps we need to cease pursuit of presence as a weight and begin to regard it a gift. Something we can un wrap every day, even a few minutes.
Life is alive at last once we are there.
Regards,
artist1111