"Ten times a day something happens to me like this -- some strengthening throb of amazement -- some good sweet emphatic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness."
Mary Oliver
Some time ago I read an article about being engaged and automatically my mind went to marriage, as we associate the concept of being engaged - "ring by spring" - with marriage. Well, it turns out the article was not about marriage, but about being present; in the here and now. I remember thinking to myself: huh, yeah, that's what I want. I want to be engaged too. To be here. Now.
However, it is not entirely easy when you have multiple messages spewing out in your direction, telling you what to think, what to feel, or even what to believe and take a stand on. Oliver stated "that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness." Initially, I thought about and worked on paying more attention in my classes. It is more than just staying focused in a class lecture.
If you are like me, then you have your eyes locked on what is next; on the to-do lists and schedules and goals, and always moving way to fast. None of these things are bad, but sometimes our attention is so focused on these items that we miss out on how the air smells after it rains, how green the leaves look on the trees, or what the blades of grass look like. We miss out on our best friend's laugh that is so distinct, especially when they make a joke and they are the only ones laughing hard. We miss conversations with new people in the coffee line or the grocery line because we are too focused on our inner lists and schedules.
We miss big moments and little ones, but does that matter? What is it that we are really missing?
Poet Mary Oliver suggests that these little blink-of-an-eye moments, are the times a nerve in us strikes, and the sparks of our souls are set on fire. If we miss them, we miss opportunities to be set ablaze, to remember or realize who we are and what excites and moves us. We miss out on feeling deeply and intimately ourselves.
Oliver talks about a "strengthening throb of amazement" -- when was the last time you experienced this? Have you ever experienced this feeling? When was the last time you saw or heard something incredible or smelled something so mouth-watering good that you salivated at the mouth? When have these experiences filled up your entire being? These moments we feel like we have butterflies in our stomach or something catches us so off guard, it takes our breath away.
When was the last time you went out and saw something remarkably beautiful and you let it soak in?
One of the reasons we cannot have this authentic and beautiful life is because of the digital age. I love social media, but it hinders us from being able to be attentive and observe the world around us. It takes away from a life we were meant to live by stealing our attention away from being present. The human, physical, messy parts of life are there for us to experience; teaching us about ourselves, how to be real and genuine people, in a world that has many fake images. What if we don't create the time and space to really know ourselves or our world?
We are made up of stories from our past and dreams of our future, that exists and is being built in the present.
To be authentic, we all need to wake up to life, put down the technology, and give all our attention to what we are experiencing here and now.
What are you missing out on? Think about it. Let's all be present and soak up the world around us. Let it stir our soul to life. Otherwise, are we really present? Are we enjoying the here and now?
