I am writing this without knowing what to title today’s post. I’m in a reflective mood today. I had a wonderfully soul nourishing day yesterday; good conversations with friends, hot yoga (my 1st experience), good food, bonfire, blazed, and set some letting go intentions under the light of the extra bright full moon.
I have been coming through to the other side of one of my darkness times, and have been reminded on more than one occasion of what life truly is about. The moments that have offered me the most peace are those in which I am surrounded by people I care about, whether deep in conversations about life, the cosmos, the future, etc., or holding space in silence, surrounded by nature. Being present in the Now moment is such a powerful tool, where angst of the past and worry of the future does not exist. Where connection starts.
How often do we truly tune into what’s here and now? Where our minds aren’t fragmented into various timelines of times already gone, or yet to (and may never) come. How often do we really give ourselves permission to just Be, right here, right now. Sometimes that Be-ing means being present with our pain. We must go through to get out. It’s also an opportunity to tune into who and what is around us, and treasure these moments of reconnection to self, others, and nature. Where we can just breathe. Deeply. Over and over again.
These moments of respite, and moments of our pain, are fleeting in the grand scheme of things. Our pleasures and pains leave marks on our hearts that stay with us for eternity. Each etch on our hearts are what make us, us. Each moment in the here and now is where life really is. Tomorrow has not come, yesterday is gone. Now is all we have. My suggestion to you, only through my own experience, is to go out of your way to be present and without distraction several times throughout your day, if even for a moment. We will see and feel things that we would not otherwise.
For example, a few weeks ago, while I was camping with friends, we took a late night walk to the lake. The skies were clear. The water looked like a mirror reflecting the trees of the neighboring island. The stars looked beautiful. I chose to sit in the sand, and had a moment of worrying about my clothes getting dirty from the wet sand (ego moment), but then took unspoken inspiration from my friends and laid back in the wet sand. Some conversation was had, but many silent moments of simply looking up and enjoying the beautiful sky, and sounds of nature. I wrapped my arms around my head to block out the shadows from the trees, and felt fully immersed in the stars. I will never forget that moment; a moment of utter peace washed over me, for the first time in a long time. I would have taken that from myself if I listened to my monkey brain, and didn’t allow myself to be fully in the moment. What a beautiful gift we can give to ourselves.
So my friends, after all this rambling, I wanted to take this moment of inspiration, and remind you that no matter where you are in your heart, practice being in the present moment – pay full attention to the people you’re with, notice what beauty is going on around you in nature, feel all the feelings, be comfortable in silence. It will help reconnect you to You – to the parts of you that make you feel alive again. That is what I feel to be true. There is so much of life we miss out on when we’re energetically and mentally everywhere but here and now.
It’s not easy to do this. The Universe knows this has not been easy for me. We are not promised easy. But I truly feel like it’s a gift we are worthy of giving ourselves. Especially now, with all this insanity going on, demanding our attention in every possible direction, except in the direction that matters the most; with a hand on my heart, this – right here, right now. Stay a while.
