The concept of being here in the moment is easy to grasp. It’s the action that keeps tripping me up. But I keep trying because I think the trying is where a lot of the learning is going on.
Poem a Day #13
Be here now
seems like such a little thing to do,
and yet a thousand times a day
my mind falls backward, like a car on a hill
when you forget to set brake,
and worries from the past
charge up to meet me.
Other times that crazy mind of mine
races forward, like a runaway horse,
for uncharted but always scary territory.
I think I’m finally
(okay, just beginning)
to understand that
be here now
is not a destination like a finished painting
or the completion of a manuscript,
it’s a never-ending journey
away from
back to
face-to-face with
not who I was
not who I am meant to be
but who I am
here
right now.
Susan Taylor Brown.
All rights reserved.
Sometimes I wonder exactly where it is I’m trying to get to, anyway …
I know. It’s all so crazy making. I want to get to where I can find myself but if I don’t really feel lost, does that even matter?
You know that expression, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for?” Maybe there is a similar truth: “We are in the place we’ve been trying to get to.”
Susan-your poem really speaks to me because I’m struggling with the same “be here now” thing. I especially like the lines:
is not a destination like a finished painting
or the completion of a manuscript,
it’s a never-ending journey
Just wonderful!
Linda, I’m glad you’re connecting with some of my thoughts. It’s such a hard, hard thing to do, to be here now. Sigh. And we never really arrive…or maybe we just realize we’ve been there all along? It’s so confusing.
oops! That last comment was from Linda. Sorry!
I love it, too.
Just for today, or for this hour, minute or second… That is one of the aims of my 12 step program, but hard to do…
It is not a destination but a one day, hour, minute, second process.
I agree, Patty. So hard to do. I feel like I am pulling my mind back every five minutes and then I feel like I’m a dummy because I don’t “get” it like I am sure the rest of the world does.
Thanks for all your comments, Susan! I feel the same way — a little disconnected this year — kind of “poeming” all by myself. Life has conspired against me getting around to read lots of poems during the week. It’s about all I can do to get my poem a day written and keep my classroom running! So I’ll be back on Saturday morning early to follow your journey this week!
You’re very welcome for the support, Mary Lee. I feel yours, even when you can’t stay for a long visit. Not to worry.