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On Being Present

Written by: Sue Lindgren Hawkes

Article Overview: As I sit and reflect about what that means, it occurs to me that I have different levels of “understanding” at any given time. Sometimes I “get it” and other times it seems that I know the concept and have yet to ever apply it.

On Being Present

When I’m truly in the experience, I really understand what it means to be grateful. Not thankful, like I’m glad we exchanged favors or I appreciate what was said or done, but that overwhelmingly deep experience of appreciation that seems to permeate all of my body and mind. It is rarely connected with one event or deed and usually completes somewhere with an overall experience of contentment with all.

That to me is the closest description I’ve come up with for when I’m truly present for all that is.

Have you ever attended a seminar, workshop, talk or convention and brought your notepad and paper to take notes so you won’t miss anything? I know I have. The question I’m sitting with today is how much am I missing while I’m attempting to capture what I’ve deemed as “important” to remember at that moment?

What if I truly believed that I could be present – truly present – in a way that I trusted I’d leave with all the knowledge I came to hear. I may be belaboring a point, but I mean a level of trust that I’m willing to believe that I would retain what’s important for me to learn based on where I am right now. Not what I might “need” to know later or for anything. That I already have the capacity to remember and be present for the really important messages because I was only right there, not thinking about how I could use that information in my upcoming e-zine, in a workshop, in my relationships, etc…


That seems to happen anyway, all on it’s own and I do that frequently anyway.

So, what does it mean to be present? Really.

How rich an experience would life be if I mastered nothing else and learned to trust myself to extract what I need when I need it. Or am I a product of our academic system and I’ve learned that the only valuable lessons are those that I can recall with my notes, quoted from some expert or to share what I’ve recorded for some test?

I can’t imagine how many files would be so much emptier if I discarded those “notes” of important phrases and concepts that I haven’t revisited after recording them for future use. And again, I ask: what did I miss by recording what I thought was important to know. If it was truly important, chances are, I shared it with someone right after I heard it anyway!

I’m not naive enough to think that I don’t need to take notes any longer or that I won’t. As I sit here with nothing “urgent” needing my attention, it seems to me that moments are all I desire to be collecting. Nothing more. Where my challenge comes in is when my brain takes over and I think I need to be doing, saying, or picking up something other than what I am.

Maybe that’s where peace lies? I don’t know.

Some ideas for practicing:
Meditation
The Power of Now
Dialogue (for the sake of dialogue, not to accomplish…)
Sitting

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Article Tags: academic system, contentment, e zine, notepad, phrases, relationships, seminar workshop



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