Recently my good friend held her 5 for 5 Brain Dump series. Julie Jordan Scott provides inspirational and motivational writing prompts that I simply love to participate in. Creating a community of writers and artists is one of her gifts.
The above Tolle quote was shared during one of these writing sessions and that week I also had the opportunity to relax at the Sugar House Park (Salt Lake City area) before driving the 150 miles home. These waterfowl understand naturally what it means to "be present." So, how is it that our advanced human species finds this concept so difficult? I live in a what is labeled as rural Nevada and yet I love going to the city for the diversity of life and all the stimulation that is part of urban life. I've come to the conclusion that where one physically lives does not necessarily encourage or discourage one's behavior towards being present or not being present. I do believe that Tolle has touched on something...negativity. I also think that there is more to being present than what Tolle is indicating in this statement. I am still trying to articulate this elusive idea of being present for myself but I want to write about it anyway.
I have discovered that at different times of the day my energy and focus on the world around me is different. We all have patterns in our behavior whether we realize it or not. I've partly come to this conclusion from my writing moods. Sometimes when I write I am able to easily put words on the page that show what is happening within and around me. Other times I have trouble putting the words on the page. I have a sense that when my best writing comes to the page I am living fully in the present moment (and I also know that is when I am most tuned in to the spiritual energy forces at work).
But the question is, what do I need to do so I am more present in the moment more often? Maybe, I need to first identify what is NOT being in the present moment. Do you ever go on "autopilot" when driving a daily route, or completing a routine task? This is not being in the present moment. Our brains develop automaticity for efficiency. For example, we train children to memorize basic math facts or phonetic patterns so that completing higher level thinking problem solving or comprehension can be the focus of the experience of learning. That memorizing is automaticity. As a human species, we've become pretty good at that concept to the point that our muscle memory can actually prevent us from being aware of our own actions.
We also have a very good brain filtering system. This again is for efficiency of functioning in our modern environment. What do I mean by this? Well, when I go shopping in a mall many things are happening all around me. However, my brain only pays attention to things I've trained it to notice like "On Sale" or "50% off" signs. So, in this case, I've limited what I'm paying attention to. So, while some may say "I am always in the present moment when I'm shopping" there are going to be periods of time that the individual is ignoring a lot of the environment like the noise or crowd of other people shopping.
So, now that I've come up with some ways to describe not being present, I come back to the question, what do I need to do so I am more present in the moment more often? Well, I believe on that day trip to the city and spending time at the park with my son, simply observing the ducks and eating a scoop of ice cream I was living in the present moment. I know this for a couple reasons. One, I had a great desire to take a picture. Taking photos is a way for me to stop and observe and allows me to create a recorded image of that present moment. Second, I fully tasted the smooth jamocha almond fudge ice cream and felt the crunch of the waffle cone in my mouth. On my day trips to the city, this example shows something simple I can do to stay in the present moment of being with my son.
More ideas are slowly coming to mind as to what it means for me to be present. This is why I write. This is why I love the prompts my creative friend shares with me.
