This year, presence was my intentional word for the year. In other words, my conscious, daily, deliberate and committed intention for 2020 was to be more present.
All over the United States, people are struggling with being present during this time of social distancing. As someone who chose presence as an intention because she knew how hard it is, I’m not surprised.
There are protests happening all over the country. Right here in North Carolina, where I have landed during this time, there is a large protest planned today. People want to be “liberated” from staying at home.
Naturally people want to return to work. Many of us have concerns about how we are going to pay our bills or keep food on the table. We are a country that prides ourselves on being workers — whether we actually like our jobs or not. When people meet one another for the first time, they always ask, “What do you do?” We are a country of doers. We don’t know how not to do.
We have no clue how to human BE.
But politicians are also citing another reason for the need to end the stay at home measures: A big mental health issue. People are really struggling staying at home.
Of course they are! We are not a country who knows how to be still. I get it! I live on the road, moving from place to place. But I have found these past six weeks of stillness a blessing. And I, for one, will miss the silence during which I could hear the sounds of birds more than planes or cars or people.
Already there are more cars roaring down the streets. And each sound makes me tense up. I have loved this time, not just because I am, at heart, a hermit. Not just because I am blessed with having found the perfect place to stay. But because it has been a gift to learn presence and to witness all the ways in which I am not present — and then practice more presence. To learn how to be. Each week. Each day. Each hour. Each minute. I am learning presence.
Finally! And as I am learning it, I am seeing what a gift it really is. And so today, with this period of reentry already beginning in certain states, I am doubling down on the heart-centered practice of presence.
I am going to be extra grateful for everything I am learning during this time.
I am going to be extra grateful and mindful of the sweet silence and the sounds of nature.
I am going to appreciate the blue blue sky before it gets covered in chemtrails again.
And mostly I am going to trust that I am not the only one who has learned something beautiful from this time. I am going to trust that we will all be a little more present as we move forward. That we will all have learned to listen to our hearts a little more. And that we will carry this presence forward into every interaction and become better human beings and less compulsive human doings.
Today I will be presence in Love, gratitude and joy.
If you want to heart today’s Be: ractice video, check it out below: