How to Put "Be Here Now" into practice starts here
“...to be lost is to be fully present, and to be fully
present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.”
Rebecca Solnit
I sat at my desk chair this morning and immediately felt
happier, uplifted.
It is simply because I am using my son’s chair which is
higher than mine, but I am surprised – though I shouldn’t be – how much better
this chair’s height matches my natural style of sitting.
I can feel my spine, straight. I notice my shoulders
normally relaxed. I mentally create and tick off a check list: feet –
underneath knees, bent, willing to take the reign and simply be it.
Recently I have been totally out of whack emotionally. It
has been one of those “sprint out of the here and now to fixate on the ‘what
might happen’ ”. Even though I know better, even though I literally tried to
drag my thoughts in a different direction, I failed.
Today is brand new. The sun is low in the sky, the children
are ensconced in school and today, as much of the day as possible, I want to
fully experience my work and my creativity as deeply and profoundly as
possible.
Yesterday my racing mind was barreling down the “what might
happen” railroad track. Now my mantra for today is “Be here now” which I
understand comes from Ram Dass. I had heard the name, but didn’t realize how
different he was when he first started teaching the concepts of presence back
in the 1970’s.
Giving myself the gift of presence, blessing myself to be
here now today, allows me to create and work and play and organize and plan
without worry about anything but this. Exact. Space. And. Time.
In what ways will you practice being present today in your
work, play, organization, creativity?
What will you do to implement “Be here now” to each aspect of
your life?
It is the best science class I can imagine right now.
All I do is sit and watch. Watch and sit. Laugh quietly. Sit
some more.
I watch the finches outside my kitchen window as they learn
to get along, as they move and jockey to take a place on the
great-finch-stairsteps to Super Finch.
On many mornings you will find me writing in my notebook and
looking out my window. The house is usually quiet so I can sit at the table,
drink coffee and splash words on the page as recklessly as I feel called.
This morning, Samuel came alongside me as I wrote. “The
birdfeeder is empty,” I said to him, “so not very many finches.” The words flew
from my mouth and I realized it was a very stupid sentence to speak. The good
part of it was this: it got me moving.
I went to the cabinet and scooped some lovingly mixed bird
seed into a large drink cup, went outside and poured it into the feeder. By the
time I got back to my seat and my notebook, the finches were feasting away.
The biggest finch – I called him Father Finch for Samuel –
stood for a while at the top of the bird feeder. He seemed to be calling the
other finches to come eat. He was notably larger than the males eating the
seeds below. Once two birds were happily eating there, a third would flutter in.
He or she would either chase off a bird or be chased him or herself.
Samuel and I laughed and giggled, covering our mouths so the
birds wouldn’t be frightened away.
At one point, all the birds left suddenly. My guess is one
of the neighborhood cats came prowling. This is another lesson FatherFinch
needs to teach the little ones.
I am sure there are interesting lessons to be learned from
your kitchen window as well.
My top three take-aways from looking out my window include:
1.The power of leading but not spoon-feeding.
Helicopter parenting or supervising teaches children and those we are training
they are not capable. Giving instruction, modeling and then giving space for
others to achieve both successes and not so successful attempts teaches so much
more than us leaping in “to help them get it right.”
2.It helps to have someone have the sole job of
leader and look out. Yes, there are times for being a daredevil but more often
than not, there are times of being conscious as well. Having a look out –
someone whose primary duty is to be alert and conscious on behalf of the
community – is a benefit for all.
3.Clever is more valuable than big or fast or
strong. Growing “clever” skills will help anyone of any size succeed. Most of
all, coming alongside others and sharing strengths is for the greatest good of
everyone, even the people watching from their kitchen window.
And Now You: Look out your kitchen – or any favored window –
of your home today. Watch what happens there with curiosity. What do you see?
Repeat for several days and let me know what lessons YOU are learning from
looking consciously out your kitchen window.
It is the best science - and life!- class I can imagine right now.
Sometimes that is the best medicine. One sentence – no, one word - at a time.
Slowly, methodically, letter by letter dropped onto the page.
Phase two: Let the words sit without you hovering.
Get up and leave, do something else, remembering what you have written even in the vaguest sense.
In case you didn't "get" that, what I said was...
Get up and leave, do something else, remembering what you have written even in the vaguest sense.
Return and repeat: one sentence at a time
Our best medicine may be a word at a time.
The most important ingredient in the word-love writing medicine is action. You pick up your pencil (or pen, fingers on the keyboard, etc) and you write that one word.
Simply start and continue and take a break and start and continue and take a break.
Here is how I did it just now for a story I want to write but can’t seem to get it to work how I want it to, right now.
Instead of sitting and doing nothing, I am choosing to write one word or a phrase and then one sentence about three images from the story I want to tell.
Waiting - - - The farmer’s recent presence is left behind as he takes his claim upon the still sleeping trees.
DIY – The Farmer made a stop sign from agricultural scraps. Such a human element amidst so many growing things.
Dancing. The upturned tree exposes roots as their ghosts take the opportunity to throw a celebratory ball.
What images or words or sentences are calling you to put them into language form?
Instead of rushing to write, “rush” to allow yourself to take action to write slowly.
Allow your write action to be a peaceful waterfall of words rather than a freight train rumbling through a busy intersection, upsetting the normal traffic patterns by shouting with its horn and making the buildings around it shake.
One word.
One phrase.
One sentence.
Repeat. Allow the words to guide the growth of the writing itself.
I don't know anyone who wouldn't like more passion, joy and pleasure in his or her life. These five methods are so easy to incorporate into your life and yes, even though simple they will make a significant difference. You will be able to take your life today and make it better for tomorrow. Keep repeating until all of a sudden you notice your life has improved without much an effort at all. This stuff is easy!
Let's start now -
1. Show up wherever you are with all your senses turned on. Sometimes practicing using the less dominant senses – for example, sense of sound rather than using vision for all your information – will help you observe life differently. Remember the sense of smell is our most ancient so its memory power is incredible. Your first grade teacher’s perfume on the first day of school is probably tucked away in there. Plus taking a deep breath to smell it all in will also help you learn to practice calming down through using your breath.
2. Keep your eyes on the metaphorical ball while scanning the horizon. There was an old saying when I was in Drivers Ed back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. “Aim high in steering” they told us. I think to this day I get some of my best insights and a-ha’s while driving because my eyes are constantly scanning and my brain is constantly engaged. Wisdom just floats in. Sometimes I even pull over to take notes other times I tell my brain, REMEMBER THIS! And guess what? It does!
3. Listen to all the sounds around you – the most surprising messages may be there.There is a famous book called “Do what you love and the money will follow”… I say "If I'm not having fun, its not getting done,"because my philosophy is I can make anything fun by simply being creative. Yes, even washing dishes and doing laundry can be fun. If you can’t change what you do, change your attitude about it. Be more childlike - remember how children make everything fun?
4. Don’t be a creature of habit! Simple things like taking a different road will open your eyes to wonders right in your neighborhood you never knew were there. When you hear yourself start to say, "Well, you know me I always do it..." stop! Replace with, "Well, you know me. I love adventure and discovering new places, people, activities... you name it!"
5. Devote yourself to trying something new as often as possible. Give yourself a weekly goal, perhaps, and a challenge goal of two new things a week. It can be simple, like eating a new veggie or a new flavor of ice cream. It can be big, like actually volunteering to learn the hula in front of a bunch of strangers. Always wanted to rock climb? Take a class! Never been to an art opening? GO! Dress up! No one will point and laugh at you. I promise.
Here’s a bonus example from my life just this week:
I woke up way too early yesterday morning. I opted not to go back to sleep since before I knew it I would be getting the kids ready for school. What did I do? Some small chores, some writing. I took the trash out and on the way to the outdoor trash can I looked up.
I was instantly awestruck. The sky was more beautiful than any painting I had ever seen. The day was dawning at a time I was normally asleep. If I had kept my head down, focused only on my tasks and to-do's, I would have missed it completely.
It took less than five minutes to have a complete transformation of mood because I was alert to life and I took what life spooned up for me. I didn’t get angry about waking up too early, I took care of business and noticed the beauty of nature right outside my front door. It doesn’t get much better than that… and you can do this anywhere, even in the middle of an urban area you will hear crickets or hear dogs barking far away or see stars or notice how differently the neighborhood smells in the fresh new, before sunrise day.
I will remember August 21, 2012 for the rest of my life simply because I agreed to stay awake rather than go back to sleep.
I wouldn't change waking up early for anything now.
Would you gain benefit in applying any of these principals or just make your life more fulfilling? Call for a complimentary coaching session now - 661.444.2735.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield.
It was tricky, planning this adventure in National Parks (and in some cases Monuments or State Parks) to try to keep each of my children happy and engaged.
Emma, my almost fifteen-year-old, has no qualms about complaining daily about how miserable she was and how much she would rather be home.
I was ready to just shelve the rest of the trip after we visited The Arches in Utah simply because she and Samuel were so miserable. Not only did I feel selfish, I felt like all my adventuring was pretty pointless if half the group felt like our road trip was akin to getting a root canal without any pain medication.
When I made this proclamation - "We'll just go home now, I know you aren't enjoying this stuff and it was organized by me to visit places I would enjoy" to our traveling band of warriors, I wasn’t expecting Katherine to break down in tears. Like me, she had wanted to visit Zion National Park for a long time AND she wanted to complete the tail end of the trip in Laughlin, Nevada, which is a traditional quirky stopping point for our family.
I think Emma and Samuel were surprised, too. Katherine doesn’t usually emote that strongly, she usually takes everything in stride.
I thanked her for sticking up for herself because I have a weakness in that area, obviously.
We headed out that morning with a fairly clean canvas. Before heading West to Zion, we decided to go to a place we hadn’t heard about until the evening before at a coffee shop/truck stop establishment in the town of Green River, Utah.
I had done a google search about this town and quickly fell in love with it for several reasons. They were like a town that refused to die. It refused to give up. It was proud and willing to do whatever it would take to keep going, even with some crumbling infrastructure and buildings that might have been quickly condemned and torn down in other spaces, plucky little Green River kept going.
Our waitress, Miranda, explained how to get to the Crystal Geyser, a rare cold water geyser. “I was there last night,” she said. “It is pretty out there…” she paused… “well, I think its pretty.”
Being from Bakersfield and seeing what Utah had offered so far, we agreed to travel along a questionable dirt road for seven miles to see the geyser up close and personal.
What seemed ridiculous on that seven mile drive turned out to be Emma’s favorite destination on the trip – until we got to outlet stores and Vegas, naturally.
There was no one else at the remote spot which gave it an otherworldly quality beyond the strange orangey rock surrounding the geyser. Each child got up close and personal with the spout, which was rusted and dingy yet also oddly beautiful.
We spent time just sitting near the geyser, checking it out, wishing it would have one of its twice daily eruptions while we meandered along its edges.
It didn’t.
And we didn’t even mind that it didn’t.
It was a space where we were able to reconnect with each other and enjoy the moment in this odd oasis, each of us, for our own personal reasons.
“I have never seen anything like this in my whole life,” Emma said.
Katherine took a wide armed siesta on the bed the orange rock surface.
Samuel investigated what happened with different weights and sizes of rocks when you tossed them into the water. There were either big bubbles, little bubbles, loud burps or virtually nothing dependent upon weight and density of the rock.
I was able to take some cool textural photos as well as photos of my children. It had been a long time since I had taken photos of “nothing” that ended up fascinating me.
Sometimes replenishment comes from famous over-the-top beautiful spaces.
On this day, replenishment came from the quirky, way off the beaten path natural wonder no other travelers seemed to know existed.
I got a nudge just now to type something completely ego centric.
Normally I wouldn’t do that because I like to think I am humble and don’t like to ever suppose anything happens simply for my favor. The nudge is insistent so here it goes:
It almost seemed, in those moments, like the little town of Green River, Utah, existed so that we could repair our relationship to each other and to this journey on that sunny morning.
It didn’t matter if the geyser erupted for us to oooh and ahhh, what mattered was our hearts erupted again as we remembered why we were on this adventure in the first place: because we shared love with each other and wanted to be together.
My children may debate with me about that reason for adventuring, but I am sticking to it.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
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I realize how much my memory is diminishing its ability to recall data – primarily stuff I have committed to do with dates attached that I have completely forgotten until #1 – I have disappointed someone by forgetting or #2 – I am reminded right when I am about to miss something which puts me completely off kilter or #3 – I hear later that so-and-so was hurt when I didn’t or did something I had forgotten about entirely.
It happened again this week.
I felt so terrible and I immediately jumped to fix it as best as I could, but I know the damage may have been unfixable. I still don’t know exactly.
I was in Barnes and Noble this weekend and I saw a book there about Memory. It is a sort of how to improve your memory using the same skills as geniuses across the ages have done it. I want to buy it, preferably on Amazon for the discount, but I can’t remember the title or the author.
See what I mean?
I can remember ridiculous details about the coat room from my second grade experience, but I can’t remember I said I would have coffee with a former co-worker at 9:30 at Dagny’s on Tuesday.
I decided I am going to start using a calendar ap on my phone that will remind me of things. I can see no other way to fix this, at least until I go back to Barnes and Noble and text myself the name of the author and the title of that… oh, yes. Of that book about genius and memory.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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