Just talking story… about the practice of being fully present.
We hear most coaching about being “fully present” in regard to giving our full attention to other people. In conversation, with Kuleana (our responsibilities), and as focus and intention with our learning. I coach people in those presence-practices at SLC too.
There is also being fully present for you, and so you can make some healthy deposits which go toward the boosting of your own spirit. It is a spirit-spilling and simultaneous refilling you do for yourself.
To do this is a wonderful thing. It is not at all selfish in the normal way you might think of the word; it is self-ish as in delish! and as in ishly, just as Ramon discovered ishly could be, in Peter H. Reynolds’ delightful story called Ish, a book which I think should be in everyone’s library, no matter what age you are.
“This is one of my favorites,” Marisol said, pointing.
“That was supposed to be a vase of flowers,” Ramon said, “but it doesn’t look like one.”
“Well, it looks vase-ISH!” she exclaimed.
“Vase-ISH?” Ramon looked closer…”
[book jacket image from Amazon.com]
Ishly requires some practice for most of us, a practice with the willingness to be fully present just for our me, myself and I.
My spirit-spilling friend Amy Palko reminded me of all of this in a wonderful post she wrote yesterday at her blog Lives Less Ordinary, which she called The One Place You Must See Before You Die. I read it yesterday, and having written A “new day” for what? earlier in the morning about the obituaries, you might think I’d key in to the “before you die” part, but no, not at all.
Amy suggested an exercise, and I tried it in the late afternoon. Having done so, I was so happy for the rest of the day and into the evening, and certain feelings about it have carried through to today. I am positive those feelings helped me this morning as I polished up a speech I’m to give tomorrow.
What a house can mean
I will be posting again soon about the result, and sharing some pictures. But not yet.
I want you to try Amy’s exercise for yourself first without mine influencing you in any way, any more than I may have already in this post and with the links I am about to offer you!
Amy posted her result earlier today, and you can read hers here if you wish: The Passing of a Moment, but again, I’d encourage you to do the exercise first.
Now go get all ishly.
Postscript: The title of my posting comes from these two photos, and the third link is for those of you wondering about the garden hose :)
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Kēia Manawa: This is it. Right Here, Right Now.
Kēia Manawa (Kay-ee-ah Ma-na-va) is one of my favorite Hawaiian phrases: I mutter it to myself all the time as a kind of self-coaching to get moving, particularly in those instances there is another reticent voice telling me to just