Presence

Presence, the world that sits right here in reach of your fingertips. That's all that's real. Those castles you're building in the sky... you're beautiful dreams of the future, I'm sad to say they are but imagination, however beautiful they may be. If there's someone who needs a hug, go give them love. That's real. If there's a message that wants to be written, a tender truth to be unfolded and shown to the sunlight, get thee writing.

What's right here in front of you? Can you sink into the yes that's all around you – the yes that you don't have to go chasing for? Look for the yes that whispers in your ear, the yes that turns your head a quarter inch to the right. Can you sit with the stillness to find it? Can you find gratitude for both the joy and pain of this present moment? Who holds your gaze when your eyes fill with tears? Who holds you in the silent dark knowing? Wherever you find love in this little moment, be it in the kind eyes of a stranger, the joy of a toddler with a mouthful of yogurt parfait, or the face of your sweetheart – feel it as eternal.

“Above all, to my love I’ll be attentive
First, and always with such ardor, so much
That even when confronted by this great
Enchantment my thoughts ascend to more delight.
I want to live through in each vain moment
And in its honor I must spread my song
And laugh with my delight and shed my tears
When she is sad or when she is contented.
And thus, when afterward comes looking for me
Who knows what death, anxiety of the living,
Who knows what loneliness, end of the loving
I could say to myself of the love (I had):
Let it not be immortal, since it is flame
But let it be infinite while it lasts.”
–Vinícius de Moraes

The present slips right out of your grasp if you demand it be big and obvious. The subtlety of the moment is where it's all at. It's in the softness of the Geranium leaf you walk by when you're out running errands in the neighborhood. It's in whatever draws your curiosity that leads you to taking a turn onto Second Avenue instead of Third, which then leads you to a quick stop into the cafe where you run into a friend who later offers you a job. Presence is saying yes to that which ever so gently seduces you. It's more like a wisp of a peacock feather than a red blinking arrow. It draws you forward into the ever next now.

See the shadow reversal > ADDICTION