Present to Life

Why facing our mortality leads to becoming fully alive

I have been preparing to lead a class on meditative journaling the past few weeks. As I assemble the many tools that I plan to use, it has caused me to stop and rename the transformation that I continue to experience as I seek my inner life above all else.

When I began to journal as a meditative tool, it was part of many other steps I was also embarking on in my spiritual healing journey. They all worked to ignite a hunger within me for stillness, for seeking guidance, and for greater awareness.  They also coincided with a medical issue that caused me to deeply explore my attachments in this world. Looking the possibility of death squarely in the face changed me as it does most others. And it changed my entire perception of life simultaneously with the other choices for my focus in life.

I have learned to quiet myself, to pursue work and activities that are life giving rather than those that deplete me. I have learned to allow the necessary busy-ness of my life to have my attention when necessary, but to seek time away so that I can again listen to the whispers within me. These are my guidance for all things now; I will always seek and consider the advice of those in my world, but my choices come from a resonance within me. Gratefully, these two sources often are cohesive and I am able to walk in our world comfortably. But when they do not, I value my inner self and am no longer afraid to go against the best advice from the experts in our world.

Being quiet, seeking stillness with the intention of becoming present to each moment is life giving. It brings a sense of expansion, of vibration, and connection with all of life that I miss when I am busy with the world. In truth, each moment is the only life we have. I choose to live it as fully as I am able, and I savor the wonderful life it has lead me to.