This is a guest article by Nicholas Pepe.
If we could take a snapshot of every single moment, nanosecond, microsecond, millisecond, and every bit of time in between these units of time, and then slow them down, we would finally be living in the now.
We take “right now” for granted like the flow of electricity, or the ‘never-ending’ supply of water that moves through our pipes, or the air we breath.
We must remember. Moments leave. They disappear.
We avoid the present moment with our worries, anxieties and regrets from the past, and the musings and fears of possible futures.
When we are disconnected from the present we can destroy a dream before it’s even been conceived, and talk ourselves out of doing better for ourselves because something unsettling about this moment reminds us of our past.
And we must ask ourselves, “If not NOW…When?”
When I was in College I was taking a creative writing class. We were given an assignment to write a five-page short story. I spent over a week creating mine.
I was up late every night revising and was proud of the story I had written.
The Professor reviewed our short stories the night before our next class.
She strolled into our classroom, with a paper cup of coffee in her left hand, a stack of individually stapled stories in the other, wearing a black sweater with grey sleeves, jeans clinging to her to legs.
She walked up to the front of the class.
The right side of her mouth angled down, the muscles around it tight, and she threw all of our stories on her desk, some slid off onto the floor and screamed, “Don’t tell me. Show me. All of you re-write these.”
She just stared at us. She didn’t say another word.
An awkward silence filled the room, the kind where you know someone should say something, but no one knew exactly what to say.
“What do you mean?” I thought. My mouth opened wide.
My ego was bruised because I thought I had written this amazing short story.
It took me while to understand through my frustration, but I realized that if you are going to be someplace, be there. I was describing scenes, but I wasn’t truly there.
I was skimming the surface of what was really happening.
In essence…
We must learn to capture the Moment (and I’m not talking about using your smart phones).
This exercise is the very core of what I learned and anyone can do it. Apply it to this very moment.
All that is required of you is to write (describe), draw, paint or observe wherever you are at that moment in the greatest of detail. It can be your favorite park, the beach or your bedroom.
It can even be an object in a room.
What are the scents and smells?
If your feet are bare what does the texture feel like against the soles, and what’s the temperature of the air as it flows across your skin?
What does the wallet in your jeans pocket feel like as it presses against your thigh?
Are there any tastes? Is there a cut in your mouth?
Is there the sound of a dripping faucet? Are squirrels skittering across the roof of your home?
What’s on the walls, are there any books on the shelf?
And if you’re talking to someone what’s their body language like?
This exercise will help to get you into a space where we you are paying attention to everything. It’s a mindfulness practice that has been shown to also improve the function of your prefrontal cortex —the part of your brain associated with “higher-order” brain functions such as awareness, concentration and decision-making.
You’ll begin to acknowledge what was once in the periphery of your awareness, the subtleties and what makes the NOW so important.
What used to be, or what will be isn’t the focus, as the present is the most powerful.
Enjoy the journey!
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Author Bio:
Nicholas Pepe is an Energy Healer and Personal Development Coach who specializes in helping women who are ruled by doubt, fear and “low confidence.” He helps women to learn how to manage their emotions so that they can live with Courage, Confidence, and Freedom. With this work, people often feel a release of negative emotions, feel free, and begin to create loving and fulfilling relationships in all areas of their lives, accelerating their personal evolution.
Download his free E-book here. And connect with Nicholas on Twitter and Facebook.
Appreciate this article a lot regarding staying at the present.
Do we necessarily need to write down? Or can we just think in our mind?