Could you tell me a time you felt present?
Being present is being in a moment of calm and focus and in which you are immersed in your surroundings and fully attentive on that which is immediately before you. Easier said than done I find.
We are constantly encouraged to be present and mindful, to live in the moment and to not let the “now” pass you by in anticipation of the future. However, the stresses of everyday life, commitments, obligations and tasks we have to complete make this a challenging task. Even when things are a bit less manic and we have more time than usual, an experience many of us have had during the recent pandemic, the apparent mundanity and beardom of the present moment often leave us thinking about better things to come rather than focussing wholly on what we are experiencing now.
When I think of times that I have been most present, I think of times in which my attentions is demanded rather than consciously sought out. For example, the crucial moments of clipping into a piece of gear whilst rock climbing or the focus of paddling over a wave whilst surfing or the attention and precision required when playing an instrument. In these moments I find my mind is wholly focused on the present moment and I am fully present. This, however, is largely out of necessity. If you let the mind drift off at these moments you are almost certain to fail, whether that be taking a big fall, taking a wave on the head or making a mistake in the music. I’ll call these moments of ‘necessary presence.’ These moments are indeed highly rewarding, they allow the completion of challenging tasks and give you the benefits of forgetting the outside world even if it is just for a moment. However, I only find myself appreciating these moments of presence fully after they have happened. Perhaps that is what being present means? Perhaps we can never be fully present if we are consciously trying to be?
There are those who advocate meditation and mindfulness as a means of becoming present and of living in the now. These are tasks undertaken for the purpose of becoming present and thus can be called moments of ‘conscious presence.’ Personally, I find these moments much harder to achieve but when you are able to consciously become focused on the present moment, it is immensely calming.
In the grand scheme of things, it is easy to be present when it is immediately required of us, when it is necessary. However, it is a whole different thing being present when it is far easier not to be. For example, right now. I think everyone is finding it hard to be present at the moment. For the fortunate majority of us not working on intensive care wards or seeing the immediate impact of the pandemic, this period of time has largely been one of loneliness and beardom. There is often very little that requires us to be present and to be honest most of us don’t want to be living in the now because the now isn’t that great at the moment.
There does seem to be a certain pressure that requires us to be present all the time and I don’t think that is necessarily healthy. Whilst being present is highly rewarding and makes us appreciate every moment as it passes, there is something valuable too in letting the mind wander, letting our imaginations go and thinking of happier times when the present moment isn’t too great. I suppose what I am trying to say is don’t feel like you have to present all the time, it is hard work. Where I find moments of presence becomes useful is when I start to feel stressed and overcome with external pressures, obligations and deadlines. These are the times when I feel I need to just pause and ground myself and seek out a moment of presence. Most of the time though, I think letting the mind wander is no bad thing.
