stuff tagged with "being present"
A Different Kind of Ultra
đź”— a linked post to
staticmade.com »
—
originally shared here on
When I returned home from this morning’s run, Jilly asked how far I ran.
“I’m not quite sure,” I told her. “I ran through the woods for about an hour and fifteen minutes, so that’s maybe six or seven miles, but I don’t know for sure.”
She didn’t quite understand why I would run if I wasn’t paying attention to how far I ran.
I think all of this boils down to the phase of life I’m currently in. I’m getting older and I’m okay with that. I’m not chasing paces anymore. I’m not chasing mileage volume. I’m not putting pressure on myself to progress at all costs. I don’t get upset if life gets busy and I don’t have time for my daily run. There are no ultramarathons on my docket.
Things are different now.
These days I’m chasing experiences – I want a unique one with each outing, and that’s only possible if I am fully present during each outing. These days I’m chasing future experiences and a level of fitness that will keep me on this planet for a bit longer so someday in the not-too-distant future I can be active with my grandkids.
That’s a different kind of ultra, but it’s the one I’m training for these days.
Bingo. This is me, in every area of my life lately.
This morning, I went for a walk immediately after finishing my burpees. I had my Apple Watch on, and it buzzed, letting me know that there’s been a change in my health activity.
I honest-to-god snort laughed, then immediately took my watch off and moved on with my walk.1 Of course there’s been a change, I didn’t need my watch to tell me that.
Being present is super hard, especially with the internet doing everything it can to draw me towards it. But thanks to myself skipping the internet today, I got the third corner of my garage cleaned! Only one more to go before I can really start making this area dope as hell.2
Another related observation: an interesting side effect of my desire to collect new music means that each new album has the potential to serve as the background track to this current moment in life.
There are many albums which point me to general moments in my life, not so much specific memories.
If I want to remember what it felt like to drive home from a midnight truck at Best Buy, I pop on The Presets’ Apocalypto.
If I want to remember what it felt like in the early days of dating Shanny, I’ll listen to Ombarrops by The Car is On Fire.
It’s kind of cool to see the intersection and synergy of my two collections.
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It was a good walk today! The boys were out laying fiber in my neighborhood and the weather was absolutely flawless. ↩
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Admittedly, more of the credit for this goes to the weather for causing Charlee’s softball tournament to be postponed, but while the rest of my family sat on screens for several hours, I got to work. ↩
Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.
We are so frequently absorbed in the thoughts of our life in totality, future worries, past regrets, that we fail to pay attention to the slivers of now that actually constitute our lives.
Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.
No matter how many times you do something, there will come a day when you do it for the last time.
The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.
Happiness, not in another place but this place... not for another hour but this hour.
Why creating is crucial to human existence
đź”— a linked post to
m.youtube.com »
—
originally shared here on
It’s easy to let ourselves get overwhelmed by the demands of our everyday lives or sometimes to become a bit obsessed with big, existential questions. But what both extremes can do is rob us of the opportunity to be present. Meaningfully present.
It’s so remarkable, and so improbable, that we’re all here together. We should probably focus on enjoying that.
Got a lot of good quotes from this one, including Kmele Foster (who hosted it) and artists Godfrey Reggio, Steve Albini, and Fred Armisen.
The invitation of life is to show up and pay attention, to wake up to the present moment, and to be fully alive in the face of impermanence.
If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.
People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.
What's next? What's next...? I prefer the question, what's now?
What if arriving simply means waking up every day fulfilled, ready to accept the gift of another day with those that hold my heart? What if arriving simply means being confident that I am capable of handling that which comes my way?
Being contented comes in little moments, here and there. At best, it’s a fleeting moment after a rainstorm when the sun’s coming out.
In an age of speed, I began to think nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.
When you choose to spend your time and energy on something you can’t control, you’re also choosing not to use it somewhere where you might be able to have an impact.
When you focus on the past, that’s your ego. When I focus on the future, that's my pride. I try to focus on the present. That's humility.
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
