Since I’ve started giving talks on being present I’ve tried to distill down what it is I’m trying to convey. This has not been easy. To try and bring my own experience of presence down to the simplest terms like so many before me is a practice in and of itself. When I started this process I knew it was ultimately for my own growth and education.
The word difficult comes out of me. I try not to use this word when encouraging people to try and be more present. But fuck, it does feel like that at times. I know.
So why does it feel so difficult?
We were all born. We all came in through this miracle of miracles and we didn’t know how to do anything. All fresh and new. Hearts wide open, ready to explore. Eagerly waiting for our mentors to show us how to live in this new place. We learnt to communicate with our expressions at first, then moving on to learning some words. Then a whole language, improving year on year with more exposure. We learnt to crawl, then walk. Then we learnt how to use these new found skills to do all sorts of cool things. Some good and some not so, but learning all the time. Most of us went on to learn how to ride a bike, swim, tell a joke, swear, play a musical instrument, kiss, sing, whistle, dance, burp on cue, (Never learnt that one). Learn another language, play sports. Some incredible things and yes some difficulty at first but if we enjoyed them it seemed a reasonably pleasurable experience. To get over the initial bump felt great.
We managed to keep persevering in these new skills because most of them were pretty common. Walking, everyone who was able did. We learnt from example, we see people all around us walking and talking. So we knew it was possible. How easy would it have been to walk as a baby if no one we knew had ever walked before? Maybe as you got older you’d hear the odd story of someone in a far off land who had walked? Odd youtube videos talking of this strange phenomena of walking people in our past? Mystery schools for only the truly gifted ones to learn this magical thing called walking. Wow, you’d say, there’s some special people out there, I could never do that. That’s if it’s even possible or real.
How many people around you were present and in the moment right there with you? How many people around you while growing up would talk to you about the mind, ego and emotions? How many people did you see not acting out of fear? How many people in your life understood their emotions and would allow you to express yours? How many people in your life understood that nothing is personal? Now this list could be endless but you get my point. It only seems difficult because it’s a practice you didn’t experience much of, if any and have not used “before”. A way of being that was not taught to you or shown as an example. You believed the way to get on in this world was like everyone else around you. Why wouldn’t you? If you're reading this then you are starting to think that maybe there is another way and you’re right.
It only seems difficult because you haven’t been present for a while, that’s all. To just be in the present moment is maybe the easiest thing to do, you did it before you could even talk. You’ve just forgotten. The more we all try to live in the present moment the less impossible it seems for everyone else. So next time you want to distract yourself maybe try this easy thing of just being with the present moment just as it is.
Now you can tell me to piss off.
MC
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