Connecting to the essense of daily life
Apr 23, 2024 12:01 am
Essence is not just about doing spiritual practice. We can practice connecting to the essence of life every day.
Have you ever noticed that time slows down when you go on vacation? Do you know when it speeds up again? The moment you realize that your vacation is almost over!
This perceptual shift regarding the passage of time is the result of being in the moment. It is what the Buddhists call “mindfulness” and my Sufi Teacher called "being in the moment." When you are in the moment, time slows because you notice and experience every moment. You enter a state of heightened awareness. You see and appreciate your surroundings and notice everything that is happening.
Toward the end of the vacation, the time speeds up because your thoughts go to the future of what is waiting for you when you return or back into the past of what was left undone. This past/future consciousness sucks time away into thoughts and worries. Your connection with the moment is lost.
Being in the moment enables you to appreciate and savor the experiences of life. It opens you to the beauty and enchantment of existence and connects you to your joy and spirit.
Unfortunately, most of us spend too much of our time in the past or the future, in worry, distress, and annoyance. It’s what we’ve been taught to do since childhood.
As babies, we experienced everything as new. We existed in the moment. Gradually we learned to distrust our experience and our inclinations and learned to conform to the demands of those upon whom we depended.
Do you remember how long it felt to reach the age of 10 or 16? Don’t the years fly by now almost in an instant?
When we are unhappy, frustrated, and doing things we dislike doing, we disconnect from our awareness. We don’t want to be aware because it’s unpleasant. It is like skipping ahead 10-20 frames in a movie film over and over. This skipping speeds up the film.
Sometimes we disconnect because we are doing something habitual like walking or doing the dishes. Our mind is elsewhere, on a letter we need to write, or the argument we had with our spouse. The experience of the moment is lost in the past or future.
Some people never know the joy of being in the moment, because they are so busy avoiding their pain, disappointments, and unhappiness. They live the form of life but not its essence.
During the pandemic, everyone’s life changed. We entered a new reality of masks, grocery lines, and isolation. Many of us had extra time on our hands and no idea what to do with it. Time slowed down! We adopted dogs and cats in great numbers and took to walking the streets. It was a positive choice. Dogs and cats are masters of being in the moment.
Now, we see the pandemic as lost time, like Rip Van Winkle waking from a long sleep. We are 3-4 years older, but what did we achieve?
Maybe what we achieved is not quantifiable. We discovered much about ourselves and the way we had been living our lives. Maybe we drive less and enjoy nature more. The pandemic was an unprecedented opportunity to shift our perceptions and our habits.
Would you like more time and more enjoyment of life? Try being in the moment right now. Focus your attention on what you are doing. Breathe. Pay attention to your senses.
When you walk or do exercises, do it with all your attention. Stay present. When you focus in this way you realize that each repetition, each movement is different from the one before -- like snowflakes in a winter storm. When you focus without judgment, you improve the quality of the exercise. You stop pushing and allow yourself to relax into the exercise and you improve with little effort.
We are taught to see sameness because it makes life knowable and controllable. Yet we can choose to see the uniqueness in everything by taking on the “no-nothing” perspective, i.e. treat everything as brand new.
Why do this practice?
You do it because in the moment you experience the essence of life-- its pleasure, newness, and adventure. Otherwise, you are only experiencing the form -- of your work, relationships, and existence. There is no heart in this sort of doing. It is mindless, boring, and life-numbing.
Seek the essence in everything you do and your life will change. Everything becomes more interesting, more vital, and essential. You will welcome the car that cuts you off on the highway because it wakes you up. Or savor the time you wait in line at the check-out, because it is an opportunity to notice the world around you.
Years ago, I visited a man who was slowly dying of heart failure. One day he was moving so slowly that I had started to worry whether he was still alive. Then he opened the door and invited me into his living room. We sat for a long time in silence. Suddenly, he said, while motioning toward the couch where I sat, “The interesting thing about slowing down is that I see things I never noticed before. Like the cloisonne vase with the red flower and the turquoise robe draped over the couch. I see the beauty I always used to miss.”
You will not be able to be present all the time. A lifetime of habit makes that difficult. However, the more you notice the world around you, the more conscious you are and the more you experience the essence of life.
If you could use a 90-minute of being in the moment, join me tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23 at 10:30 am PST or come Sunday, April 28th at 8 am PST. Or come to both.
The Zoom link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09
Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833
Passcode: SUFI
Here's a time converter link to check the time in your location.
Be peaceful.
Michelle
Dr. Michelle Peticolas
Life Transformation Coach
Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss
Secrets of Life and Death
