Reflect

What do baseball pitchers, pilots, and 5-year-olds eating ice cream have in common? They are fully present, whether to multiple incoming sets of data or delicious chocolate! Our ability to integrate information and focus is what allows us to undertake complicated and simple tasks alike, but there’s a tipping point. When too much input is arriving all at once, whether from the world around us or from within, we risk more than a bad pitch or bumpy landing. We underperform at work, we bypass important experiences of sorrow and grief, and we miss opportunities for connection and joy. While we’re distracted, the ice cream falls off the cone.

It’s true that we’re living in an age of massive distraction. Apparently, many of us are looking at our phones up to 200 times a day, to say nothing of the very real demands and complexities of everyday life. Presence, however, is not a turning away from this complexity; instead, it’s a way of leaning in and experiencing life more fully. It’s the learned ability to make discerning choices about what gets our attention. Baseball fans aren’t asked to be silent for the pitcher; an outstanding pitcher has learned to be present to what matters, despite the distractions.

Rather than being limited to quiet meditation, presence can take many forms, each a meaningful expression of gratitude for life. It might look like listening attentively to someone you love, carefully considering a struggle that needs your full attention, making eye contact with the check-out clerk at the store, or allowing yourself a full-bellied laugh. It could even mean responding to your texts or reading the news on your phone, not as distractions while multitasking, but with your full presence.

This week’s practices invite you to experience life fully through your focused presence — to yourself, to an issue you care about, to those around you, and to the here and now.