It’s easy to get caught up in your own thoughts.
This happens to me more often than I’d like to admit. When life accelerates and everything seems to be moving at once, the mind wants to race ahead or fall behind. It doesn’t want to just be here.
The present moment becomes the last place we want to be. Which is strange, because it’s the only place anything actually happens.
The Speed of Modern Life
When I was living out in the country without internet, staying in an Airstream trailer, my version of a monk cave, it was easy to be present with everything. There was nothing else going on. No notifications. No urgency. Just the moment.
But when things are moving quickly, when life is expanding at light speed, presence becomes work. It takes effort to stay grounded when everything around you is in motion.
The mind loves this chaos. It gets to stay busy, stay worried, stay anywhere but here. Learning how to be present in the moment means interrupting that pattern.
A Practice That Actually Works
I’ve found it helpful to literally start talking to the world around me in my head.
Hi Tree. I see you.
Hello Lizard, you’ve got a brilliant green tail.
Good day, Clouds. I wonder if I could make you disappear with my mind the way I used to try when I was younger.
This acknowledgement of what’s right in front of me forces a new perspective. I can feel the dimensional shift when I do it. The racing mind slows. The scattered thoughts gather.
It sounds ridiculous. It is a little ridiculous. But it works. The mind can’t be lost in worry and greeting a tree at the same time.
Why This Simple Practice Works
It’s as if everything comes back into focus. A certain clarity appears when you stop playing in perceived pasts and imagined futures. You just recognize what’s actually here.
Howdy, Flower. I wonder if a bee has visited you today.
And then that knowing feeling comes back in. The one that tells you all is well. The one that says you don’t need to figure everything out right now. You just need to be here.
The practice works because it gives the mind something to do that anchors it to the present. Instead of fighting the mind’s need to narrate, you redirect it toward what’s actually in front of you.
The Return to Presence
This practice isn’t about escaping your thoughts. It’s about redirecting them. When you engage with the world directly, even silently in your mind, you pull yourself out of the mental loop that keeps you anxious and disconnected.
Presence isn’t a destination. It’s a returning. You drift, you notice, you return. Over and over. That’s the practice. Not getting it perfect. Just coming back.
All is well. Not because everything is perfect. But because you’re finally here to witness it.
This is shadow work in action.
If you’re ready to process what’s been running your life, explore the Shadow Work practices.