Hi Bonnie,
I have a tip I wanted to share. Recently while I was on a run with no music playing for once I had a revelation.
I realized (and not the first time but this time I was ready to see it practically and not just cognitively and spiritually) I was so out of the moment with EVERYTHING in my life. I always feel like I need to be doing this or that or thinking about the next thing on my to do list for my career. What I could do to make more money, the DMV stop I had to make, the credit card companies I had to call, the laundry I didn’t do.
My mind was never still and in turn I never was living and experiencing anything because I was always in the future rushing through whatever it was or whomever I was with to get to the next thing.
The revelation came when I thought about just being on vacation (one I haven’t taken in many years) and being on the beach with no phone or access to email. I didn’t have to take calls or do anything but be on the beach. When I was little, I was happier always in the moment because I was enjoying what I was doing then and not thinking of all the things I had to do. When I would do those things I “had to do” in the future, I would be doing those things THEN and not now.
When I thought of those times, my breath relaxed and I was able to acknowledge what I was doing, start enjoying my run, and I actually looked up and saw and appreciated the mountains for the first time in a long time.
I asked myself, “What if I needed to be nowhere else but where I was right now and what if I needed to be doing nothing else but what I was doing right now?” It was so freeing. Like in The Alchemist, there’s point in the book where the boy sees the oasis in the distance and wants to rush ahead to get there but his guide tells him there is a time for us to make it there; right now it is time for eating and resting.
Sorry this is so long but I think you get the gist. Basically when I ask myself that question it really calms me and gives me permission to not have to think about or feel like I should be doing myriad other things. I hope my revelation can help others live more in the moment and find happiness there too like I did.
With kindness,
Tiffany Mualem
Tiffany, I love this so much. Thank you for sharing it. I recently wrote in my personal blog about the recent experience of our SMFA Escape and at its core is the phrase “I belong here.”
It’s so similar to your question and I think it serves exactly the right purpose: Getting present, being fully aware and in the moment, and trusting that you are exactly where you’re meant to be at every turn.
To further these goals, I am a fan of turning off all notifications, uninstalling social media apps on handheld gadgets (making it so that there’s a desk and a computer and a REAL to-do list competing with the energy of a “wall” or a “news feed” or whatever status updates bark at us all day long if we LET THEM), and implementing a “no screens in the bedroom” policy so that sleep comes easy and the first *energy* of the day is not some drama-filled email that feels as if it must be dealt with before a proper stretch and deep breath.
Thank you for sharing this with the readers of The Actors Voice, Tiffany. You’re lovely and so are these words of yours! 🙂
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001959.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.