Sunday Thoughts....The Eternal Now

I love this quote from Rick Rubin. I’ve just started his book “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” and there is a lot of great thoughts for reflection. So much of deeper living is being willing to open my awareness, to notice what is right there before me, to listen to what is happening inside my heart. Inattention narrows my vision, and flattens my perception of things.

It is so human to forget to be present. We all get busy, we have things to do, deadlines to meet, floors to sweep and errands to run. And so part of my work as a poet and songwriter is to practice attention, to notice the morning light shift and sparkle on the floor while I sweep, to stop and feel the handle of the broom, hear the satisfying swish of the brush, and smile at the sideways glance my dog gives me when she has to move from where she’s sprawled out on the wood planks. Part of my work not just as a creative, but as a human being is to take notice when I am running errands. To take in the smell of rice and beans from the food truck on the corner, notice the flower coming up between the sidewalk cracks, be with my feelings when I see a homeless woman sleeping in a doorway, the edges of her plastic bags fluttering around her like sparrows or angels. My true work and practice is to notice when my mind is racing with what needs to be done tomorrow, or lost in something that happened long ago, and then gently and with a lot of compassion usher myself home, to be really here while I am here—because this is the only place I actually live, where the light comes in and my heart greets the eternal now.

I do little things to help myself remember, because I do forget, and I love so much how it feels to be present when I come back. One little thing I do is wear a particular bracelet on my wrist. The purpose of putting it on is that every time I see it, when I’m typing or driving or clapping my hands to call the dogs, is to snap me back into the here and now. Oh, look that’s my remember remember remember bracelet. A friend gave it to me years ago. It reminds me of her. The smooth wooden beads are soft against my skin. It is covered in gratitude and sometimes dirt when I garden. We all have things that help us remember to be, right where we are, practices that help us keep opening up our hearts and awareness. The point is not that I will forget, of course I will forget. The point is that I keep finding my way home, and loving so much how my life and world is wider and richer with attention.

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Practice

For the next day purposefully wear something on your body (a bracelet, necklace, colored socks, hair tie, something simple). Whenever you notice it smile and say to yourself, “Its good to be here, in the eternal now.”

Alternate practice — On a piece of paper write the words “The Eternal Now”. Fold it and carry it for a day in your pocket or wallet or purse. Somewhere that you are likely to bump into it during the course of a day.

Question

What is does it feel like when you “come home” to the present moment? Are you able to give yourself a little grace when you remember your way back to now?

A Great Wild Mercy - Thank you for Streaming!

“I’m tired of all the rage, tired of all the worry, I’m ready for a great wild mercy”

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One Inch Photos

Caption for the toad in a crevasse next to the stone stairs…”This is me smiling”

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