In reading about mindfulness, I came upon the phrase “taking refuge in the present.” Something about the idea, and that way of expressing it, penetrated my anti-woo-woo crust and shot right to the core of me. Knowing how easily my own thoughts can slip off to the past (regrets or fond remembrances) or the future (worries or aspirations), there’s a profound simplicity and sense in the instruction to, as much as possible, just be here now.
The only time anything is actively happening is now, in this very moment.
When I manage to be nowhere other than where I am, I’m usually in pretty good shape. No hitting the escape hatch. No slipping off to somewhere else.
Naturally, the epiphany resulted in a song.