On Presence

Presence is having your attention on what is happening now - what your are experiencing now.  Being present opens up the door to a richer experience of life - awareness of even a little more of the seemingly infinite world around us that, for the most part, we ignore.

I know I'm present if I'm enjoying little things, and seeing, smelling, tasting and touching things as if they were new.  I know I'm not present when I'm doing something, and before it is finished, my mind is thinking about the next thing to do, or the one after that.

After lunch today, I was washing dishes.  When I scrubbed soap over the surface of a curved, glass, skillet lid, the foamy bubbles coalesced into beautiful swirly patterns.  I spent a few minutes, far more than needed to clean the lid, wiping the bubbles this way and that, and enjoying the resulting patterns.  If I had tried to paint a lovely pattern, I couldn't have done as well.  Was it silly to enjoy it just because it was soap bubbles on a pan lid?  The present me says no.  It was completely engrossing and fulfilling to a mind in the present.

After I started this post, Pam called to ask if I would help fold laundry.  It is one of those tasks sometimes described as mindless, as if it is something of a necessary waste of time.  Instead, it's an opportunity to notice and enjoy the smell of clean clothes, the texture of each piece, still slightly warm, all fluffed up from tumble drying.  I didn't need to keep thinking about this partly written post.  It was here, waiting for me.  Far better to be present for the laundry folding, and then be present to write, rather than being absent for both with my mind who knows where.