Being present...

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

Now is the time to understand more,

so that we may fear less.”

- Marie Curie

I have this friend in Ottawa, Canada.  Friend might be understating the situation; I have known this woman, well let me see…I have known this woman all of my life!  It is conceivable (pun fully intended), in some ways, I knew her vicariously whilst we were carried in our respective mothers’ wombs…they were friends.  Folklore suggests maybe we communicated before birth to switch our arrival to the planet…me arriving on her expected birthdate; she on mine.  Yep, we have known each other, I suppose as long as two non-siblings might.

A few years ago, my friend shared a piece of wisdom she had picked up along the way, “Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift.  That’s why we call it ‘The Present.’”  It was in response to something I had written in a moment of unresolvable reflection.  You know, the kinds of things you think about that just ‘are’…things you really don’t fathom…the unknowns of life you feel driven to understand, but lie just outside your grasp…just beyond the horizon of comprehension.  I do spend a fair amount of time considering these sorts of things.  She, in the not so subtle way that only good friends can do, was suggesting I should lighten up and appreciate the moment…

The present, hmmm…

I’m not the quickest study, so I gestated this comment for a few years – a little at a time as it were, and began to think about the word ‘present,’ and it’s different meanings.

For example:

Present

(noun)

A period of time now occurring…immediately

between the past and future...

Present

(noun)

Something you receive…like my friend suggesting

my life in the moment was a gift – a present...

Present

(adjective)

In attendance for

school or church or a meeting...

Present

(prē-sent, verb)

The act of giving

a gift to someone...

I can actually hear my friend’s voice chuckling that I have taken her “Let me brighten up your day” comment and given it more thought than simply “…enjoy the moment will you??”  Knowing me as she does, however, she might appreciate this would not be quite enough for me. 

She would, of course, be correct.  It is important to be in the moment, smell the flowers, the coffee, bathe in the ‘what is’… I mean, what could be more meaningful – right?

Meaningful…yes, but for the moment to be meaningful, should it not be …full of meaning…?  You know, context – the what…the why.  These are the things that draw me to edge of my envelope…the edge of my known world…the edge of my map.

There be dragons…

When early English mapmakers came to edges of their known world, they would write in the margins “Here be dragons…” The ‘dragons’ represented unknown areas of the earth – the dangers of territories unexplored.  As more and more of the world’s geography became known, the ‘dragons’ diminished until modern mapmakers no longer have dragons - knowledge and understanding slayed them.  Slaying them, however, required exploration…asking the questions…pushing the envelope.  When we consider things beyond the confines of our known world and universe – for us still… there “…be dragons.”

One might argue there are many things in our lives that remain ‘…territories unexplored…’ – our ‘dragons.’  In the rhythm of the universe, they are the things we don’t understand in the moment (present), the things just beyond our grasp, things we continually seek.  Yet, like the makers of maps, as we gain knowledge and understanding, the ‘dragons’ slip away like the morning mist when the sun climbs its latticework to brighten yet another day.

Where were we…

Let me see…we were talking about being in the moment…life as it comes.  Being in a place to appreciate things as they appear in front of us – expected or unexpected…the gifts of life as it were.  There is little doubt thinking about how the things fit into a bigger picture can detract from fully enjoying an occasion or experience.  On the other hand, the “…be here now…” life can leave one with little time to process things or plan for coming events.

I think my friend was simply wanting to help me appreciate life should be balanced.  The ‘now’ for the simple enjoyment of ‘now,’ and the ‘now’ for the preparation of ‘then.’  You know…now and then…

Is there a take away here?  Yes, probably life should be balanced in a way that brings a sense of appreciation for the moment…for the way each moment fits into the symphony of life, like the intricate combination of notes on a keyboard, interacting to elevate and thrill the soul.  It is the exercise of those notes, however, that bring about the next and yet unknown musical creation.

Staying merely in the moment, or focusing solely on the context of life can easily create disparities that are probably not healthy on either end of the scale.  Balancing the moment and the horizon brings a sense of meaning.

The point…

Being present, isn't simply a matter of showing up and getting into the moment.  The present is the accumulation of past experience and preparation for what may happen next.  Truly one can only act in the present, but being thoughtfully present can make all the variations of 'present' more meaningful.

While not as clever as my friend's comment to me, I think this probably fits the bill:

“Be in the moment (present)…striving to be attendant (present) to life as it happens…and appreciate the gifts (presents) as they are given (presented).”

I’ll try not to overthink this…

- ted