To live in the present, in the “here and now,” is often still in vogue these days. To actually “live in the present” may involve much more than most people realize. Many may think that they “live in the present” but they may not. It is extremely easy to deceive oneself. If within, constant “thinking” is going on, then one (surely) does not live in the present. Thoughts are symbols from (and “as”) old, stored memories that unfold from the past. So, if one is constantly thinking about things, one is living in the past. This includes pondering about the future. When we worry about the future, we are using thoughts of the past to project what the future might be (i.e., what the future might consist of).
Additionally, if we go through our day while just habitually recognizing everything with distinct borders, distinct names, distinct attributes, and characteristics, then we are looking primarily with what we were taught… which really isn’t looking at all. Even then we are relying on the past; even then we are existing in (and “as”) the past.
Many say, “Be in the here and now.” What is that “here”? Is it a lot of recognition from (and “as”) what was poured into us in the past? That recognition is the past; its “here” is what old, stored, dusty memory is. Is the “here” some stored images about what is assumed to be centrally located? And, what is “now”? Is it some isolated time interval (of one’s own) that one clings to? It may be that most of us never really wake up. It may be that T.S. Eliot was right when he wrote, “Love is most nearly itself when here and now cease to matter.”
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
And the the Present is a present 🎁.. the gift of being in the Now.
Be careful. It may be a self-concocted gift to a false center or ego.
Eliot was right and so are you! The moment we are thinking past present whatever we are never present! For me ‘presence’ happens most easily around dawn while I am standing outside under a frigid pink sky, or while watching beloved turkeys who have finally returned.
For those brief moments …
and oh that photograph!
Thank you, Sara. 😊 And, for sure: yes, the moment we are thinking past present whatever we are never present!
That’s quite the photo! Very gingerly I too would walk up the pointy stalk.
Thank you, Marlene. Gingerly, yes! I see you get the point. 😉
WOW, these are some thought-provoking ruminations about where we are in the here and now, present or past. We ask what are we clinging to? And are we relying on the past more than we think we are? Yes, we live in the present, but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t rely on the past to propel us to this point of living in some degree. Thanks Tom! 🤗💖🥰
Yes, Kym, memory from (and “as”) the past is frequently necessary. But most of us over-rely on it, existing in the past habitually (and stagnantly). Truly balanced minds do not remain childishly dependent upon the past. 😉
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Thanks, SmushDive 😎
You’re right, we ruminate about the past and worry too much about the future. As much as I try to fight against that, those thoughts pop into my mind when I don’t want them to. That’s why I love being with nature so much. It really does help to take my mind of things, and those moments of peace are so precious.
Yes, observing and feeling nature takes us out of our bounded selves.
Yes, Harini, and (really) nature is what one is anyway… so (really) nature is wherever you go. 😊
Yes, Willa, Nature is a real help with going beyond the isolated self. Also, often be mindful even when seemingly not in nature. (Nature is wherever you are, really.) 😊
That’s true, even in the atoms of the inanimate objects around us. I’ve been reading about panpsychism! 🙂
Is that a grasshopper? I like his careful expression!
Yes, Harini, it is a grasshopper (here in Illinois).
Gingerly indeed! He’d better scale that cactus carefully or he is bound to snag a wing. I had no idea a grasshopper was such a myriad of colors like this one is. What a great shot Tom!
Grasshoppers sure do look different up-close, Linda! 😊 I have a Cretaceous Grasshopper fossil that is 100 million years old, by the way. They’ve been around for a very long time!
Yes, the mosaic look of their face, pretty amazing to me Tom. Now that’s incredible – you should post about it – do a comparison between the fossil and the grasshopper featured in this post.
Being present requires being intentional about it, honing in is not something we do instinctively, I think. Lovely grasshopper, Tom. 🙂
No! Trying to be intentional about it negates it. It is not the result of effort. A means to an end (i.e., a motive) does not bring it about. The notion of a controller (who can intentionally make it happen) is fallacious. Intention creates the supposed “controller” who employs effort; such effort involving an aim or a plan (to get something). But the controller is the controlled and such effort is like a dog chasing its own tail.
Thanks about the Grasshopper. 😉