112: To be present to eyes and legs and feet and gravity, hmm

What does it mean to be a human being?

Some people say that we are never our “real selves” except when we are in the present.

This may be true, or true for you, or not true, or not true for you.

And surely there is a difference in the quality of your experience when you are in the present.

So this could be one aspect of what it means to be a human: we can be present and aware of that, or we can be lost in the past or the future.

This can be our experiment today: to be present and feel what the difference is, and if, in this difference, we feel something more like “our real self.”

And to be present, I’ll suggest a top and bottom approach. We have two legs and two feet and they carry us around the world, baring accident or disease or some in born problem. The legs and feet carry us from one place to the other, and as we walk or sit, or even lie down, we can feel how our legs are interacting with the world via gravity.

And these feet and a pelvis and a spine carry a head at the top of us. Two eyes in this head, looking out, letting light in.

Play with being present to feet and legs and head and eyes and light today. A big game.


Feel, sense and notice the difference when you are present this way.

99: Having a Good time with variation from NOw

buffalo meat won't you come out to eat, complete with egg yolk


Changing in the present

The past can’t change.

The present can.

Often we do things exactly the way we’ve always done them.

We had a day, a ways back as part of the 108 days, of trying “something new under the sun.”

Today, pay attention to whether or not you are in the present.

When you get there, pause and breathe and just enjoy “being.”

And from that being, think of options.

Options about WHAT you could do next.

And options about HOW you could do next whatever you are going to do.

So, you finish your breakfast, and pause. You could brush your teeth, read the paper a little, take a walk, make a short phone call.

The walk could be fast, a new route, the usual route, slow, on the insides of your feet, skipping, pigeon toed, bow legged, singing, following your breathing, counting your breathes, counting your steps.

Don’t worry about what you decide.

Just play with the possibilities and stay present to how that is all going.

All day.

Good.

Winter coming, what is love

dogwood at quarry hill

days get short
time indoors

we can talk
with people we
love
and
if we
really love
them,

listen to what
they have to
say

this is nice
when awake,
just letting their words
come
maybe for five minutes
or more
not saying anything

just listening,
not giving advice
just listening

not interrupting
just listening

following the breathing
being present

the present
of our presence

so much more
that all the stuff
we hide behind
in non present
present giving

la,
la