A couple of weeks ago I was drove about 900 miles from Lancaster, PA to Maine and back to Lancaster again and had some time on my hands, so I listened to a lot of podcasts, music, audio books, and news. And out of all those miles and hours, I keep on coming back to one thing that one guys said.
I was listening to the TED Radio Hour on NPR and they featured Andy Puddicombe’s TED Talk on mindfulness. He gave a lot to think about about, but something I think he mentioned was that we spend a lot of time not being there.
Not being present in a moment.
Not being present in the point that we are currently living.
I think the statistic he mentioned was that we spend half our waking hours stuck in the past or worrying about the future.
Andy’s point was that if we don’t take time to be present, we might actually be missing out on a lot of life-giving stuff.
Perhaps Andy’s words struck me because I was trying to be present and mindful while driving a lot of miles alone in a car through several states. It’s all too easy for me to have my mind drift while driving. I can be thinking about everything else, but the whole safely operating a zooming automobile as it passes other equally fast automobiles through channels of concrete and steel that will not be forgiving to a wandering mind.
His words struck me again a few days ago.
My husband and I traveled to Philadelphia to see a great concert. It was a small venue and we were 10 feet away from the performers. And they were rocking it! But my eyes kept on drifting over to a girl in front of me who was live casting the video to her social media page. I watched how she zoomed in on the performers’ heads, their instruments, the lights, and then zoomed out to catch the whole concert. I was so distracted by this that I found myself watching the concert through her tiny phone rather than watch the people 10 feet away from me!
No, this isn’t a diatribe about Facebook Live or live video streaming. They’re a tool that can be useful in certain circumstances….not all circumstances. And yes, like any tool, it can be misused, abused, and used for ill rather than good.
I was more perplexed about who I should be annoyed with–the girl with her phone or me who was getting distracted. At one point, I just had to say, “SARAH, hello are you there? Watch the concert!”
I have been working these past couple of months on being present. It sounds so simple, but I was fairly bad at it. I guess the practice of presence is a good one to work on!
Ooh, if you’re like me and you’re trying to work on all that contemplative prayer stuff, perhaps check out Father Richard Rohr.
I think it’s time to go be present with some people in my life who I really love. Maybe we can presently find a cookie or a tasty snack.
