Distracted
“I
want to feel my life while I'm in it.” Meryl Streep
I
don't know about you, but sometimes I operate on auto-pilot.
Sometimes, my life is lived in retrospect. I realize the significance
of things only after the fact. I don't know whether that is the
nature of an introvert, or simply the result of distraction. If my
head is in one place, and my body in another, where exactly am I? I have
to bring conscious awareness to being present in this moment or I
won't have this moment. And the moments add up to days, and
lifetimes.
It
takes practice to feel your life while you're living it. There are so
many competing thoughts and experiences, and nowadays, our technology
is an ever present source of interruption. There is a very good
possibility that our cell phones are just another “mental”
function that multiplies and amplifies distractedness. Sunday, during
worship, I watched one singer in the choir text the entire time
between songs, and yesterday, while talking with a friend, his new
iPhone was mentioned at least 7 times in less than an hour.
I
know it sounds lame-brained to be so out of step, but
I truly think we should set aside time for being in our lives while
we're living them. Right this moment, the sun shines too brightly in
my eyes; it reveals all the dust on my computer screen. The oak
leaves closest to me are brown around the edges, and Liza
patrols the porch borders, ever vigilant for the black cat. Birds
sing, an occasional car swishes by on the street, and dogs bark in
the distance. Practicing mindfulness is not exciting, but it pulls my
consciousness into this moment. I inhabit my life, dust and all.
I
don't want to get to the end of my life and wonder what I did with
all the time God gave me. I want to be here now, while I actually am
here now. Today, let's practice presence.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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