So much love surrounds us, yet we complain about the lack, seldom about the abundance of grace in being present in everyday life. Looking forward to the weekend, a vacation, or retirement –is looking for happiness in the wrong places. Looking backward, often we find regret and disappointment. If we approach life with compassion and love in the present moment, we find an abundance of happiness: if the conditions are right! So, how do we wait for, or struggle to create, or try to steal from someone or something, a lover, job, homestead, or family, the conditions for happiness? Happiness comes from the verb “to make happen,” not “to be happy.” If the conditions are right, it will manifest.

Stay in the present, be present in relationship, be patient –yeah!

We have heard that all before. But how do you do it? It is my privilege to share with you a weekly rant on varying viewpoints on how to stay present. I do so with my Substack weekly posting. It is weekly if I am lucky? persistent? rigid? obsessive compulsive? You decide.

Okay, it may not be weekly. But if you wish to find examples of the poetry of presence, of arriving, of happily trudging the daily grind, click here: Each week, a new rant, new poem, or spiritual insight, magically appears at this Substack site: explore the range of his writing at https://danielsmith3.substack.com And then explore your own: remember, be yourself because everyone else is taken.

Field work starts with a 99cent spiral bound notebook, a writing instrument, and some quiet time. Starts with a gratitude list. Starts with a snapshot of your financial, emotional, relational and internal sense of worth. Starts with carefully describing exactly what is in front of you, right now, the present. Starts with spending time in nature, with folks who support you. Starts with realizing that even those who or that which challenges you, is an opportunity for growth. Karen Casey quotes Maxwell in one of her meditation books, who contends “Change is inevitable; growth is optional.” See more here https://quotesstreet.com/snippets/change-is-inevitable-growth-is-optional-by-john-c-maxwell/

The poetry of presence, of arriving, of the personal, collective, & universal  challenges that inner growth: here are some upcoming events, workshops, and online discussions Dan hosts: Upcoming Workshops