Most of us have heard and/or used this expression to describe the experience of showing up for something, but feeling like it flew by. Lately I have been feeling like its not time that flies, its us.
So much planning and preparation can go into an event, for example a wedding. There are details and contracts and photographers and food to choose, guest lists to make, so much to do! Then when the actual ceremony and reception take place, it can feel like we were not even there.
Focusing on being present can help with this. If you have any interest in getting to actually participate in life, instead of just running through cycles of planning one event to the next, presence is a free, easy and routined way of doing just that.
A regular meditation practice is possibly the strongest way to build our ability to do this. Even 5 minutes of sitting still consistently, on a daily basis, can help settle us enough to show up fully. But if a meditation practice is not your thing, you can still be present.
Presence is about awareness. It is noticing what’s in front of us at any given moment. It’s the “stop and smell the roses” approach to the notice little details by giving our attention to them. Details we miss, when we are flying.
Since we can only ever be where we are, we can set an intention to anchor our attention in the current moment. One practical exercise in doing this is having a touch stone that we go back to many times throughout a day or an event.
A stone in our pocket that we literally touch from time to time, a piece of jewelry that we repeatedly notice, or simply breathing deeply. A simple pause can be enough time to be in the situation, and not of it.
If you are old enough to remember the Ally McBeal show, recall that there were are few episodes simply around having one’s own “theme” song that played if their different heads. This is another way to go, as the refrain of the tune can also act as that catalyst to put just enough space between our relentless interpretations of what is happening around us, and what is actually there.
If none of these resonate, but you are still curious about how you might be flying, instead of time being the culprit, try imagining yourself out of your own mind, and become the observer of all, yourself included. It sounds a little “out there” but it gets the job done. Repeat often.