14 September 2012

being present

"Be Present" is one of those vague sayings I see and hear frequently, from places like bumper stickers, yoga class, and randomly on the internet. I understand the concept- be here now (great book, by the way)- but I never really went beyond that. Today for some reason I had a breakthrough of sorts. My kid and I were throwing a ball back and forth (in the house- I know. It's a really lightweight ball. ;)), and I glanced up to check something on my laptop. For some reason, and I have no idea why, it kind of hit me- you're distracted. you're not being present at all. Those words. I started thinking, well, this same thing probably impacts my ability to blog as well (this happened right after I had written my last post, and was feeling bad about not having written anything all dang week). 

I set out every week intending to blog, even if it's not about much and even if it's only a couple of posts. But beyond that intention, I don't do much. I don't set aside the time to gather the focus I require to blog. I'm distracted. Without any forethought, I expect to just burst out a stream of consciousness about *something,* and I just think that that *something* will appear out of thin air. Without giving myself the time or space to really engross myself in the process. 

It's about pushing myself, too. Pushing out of my self-imposed limits that may possibly be a source of the distraction. The distraction in itself IS limiting. And I've only begun to become conscious of some of the limits and fears I impose upon myself, and have for so long. Not just with blogging, obviously, but in general. 

So I can begin by making space and time for my thoughts, interactions, everything. By valuing my time.  Because it's kind of essential. I want to be present. I don't want to be distracted my whole life and not do the things I really want, connect with the people I really want to connect with. Obviously, I don't have any answers, but honestly, just becoming aware of how profoundly affected I am by these things helps.

I was going to write about some astrology to this, but it would be WAY too long of a blog post! :) 
How do you feel distracted? (my phone is definitely the biggest one for me). Any tips for overcoming it? Would love to hear your thoughts...


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