Quest for Presence: Re-Imagine Time for Well-Being
Quest for Presence: Re-Imagine Time for Well-Being
Reenvisioning Presence Together
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Welcome, time weavers. Before we begin this episode, I want to welcome our new patrons who joined us this past week. Please welcome Kimberly Gray, Brent Easton, Heather Oglesby, and Amanda Joe Edelmeyer. Thank you all. Remember, you too can also join us at www.presencequest.life.
SPEAKER_01Reenvisioning what presence it really is. Yeah? I mean it's not something, you know. I ever thought about that be oddly could be done in the presence of others. But yet that's our gift. Is the presence of others and just embracing them, just like being here with you all. I mean, actually embracing what that is. I mean, it's like a. I mean, you almost have to just be quiet and just enjoy the essence of it. It's like a fleeting thought. It's always ever changing.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the Quest for Presents podcast. This is an intentional community of time weavers. Many of us have been burdened by clock time. We forget that there are so many wonderful and beautiful features in this gift of time. Come join us. There is a treasure for you in every episode.
SPEAKER_02I keep going back to uh the the pandemic, the quarantine, the shutdown. And um that we we had to put a lot of things on hold. And um I I think I examine what comes after that. We started valuing more the connection, the the being in the same room with an art Wimberly instead of zooming with them, which I had to do for you know the course of several several months. Um having that pause, I think provide in this context, I think provided that value of things that we may have taken for granted. That that's where that's where I am. I don't know how that how that uh helps the conversation. That's from my okay, okay.
SPEAKER_03No, that's exactly what happened to many people. They they the the the pandemic kind of upended clock time for everyone, you know, which is we we haven't talked about, but we will.
SPEAKER_00And then and you know, Joel, along that line, you started hearing stories uh within the first six to months to a year about um how it seemed like nature was healing itself uh because there weren't as many cars on the road or heat indexes or whatever. So it was interesting. I I don't know if they how accurate all of them were, but there were these indications that nature, in a sense, was uh uh we were giving it a pause and that maybe there was some healing going on.
SPEAKER_02And that goes back to Joel's question of like, is this something the globe, something that has to happen? Joel, am I am I forgive me if I'm transposing that question.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, is that that that's a question? Is it like is it is nature having to self-correct?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I I think this is an example of that.
SPEAKER_03Well, we saw it. That's what art said is we actually saw evidence that nature was self-correcting.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, there's there's a theory uh that makes sense to me. I d I yeah, I'm you know, the next time I'm an expert on this will be the first time, but there's a theory that uh about every five hundred years that the earth and humanity goes through a huge shock point in which many things have to be shaken uh and then uh a huge uh correction uh comes in and we head at to another evolutionary you know level. Um and so the theory is we're in one of those right now. If you go back 500 years or so, then you're looking at uh the Renaissance, Reformation, uh all of that, which was a sea change. If you go back 500 years before that, there's another and 500 before that. So if it's accurate, we're in one of those. And are we in the beginning in the birth panes? Are we in the middle of the birth panes? You know, who knows? But we do seem to be in one of those eras.
SPEAKER_03This is great. That's why that's why I wanted to talk about it, because it'll bring us later to the idea of threshold. Yes. And the key, um what I really think is important here is what is it that you're passionate about? It's like I asked Ronnie earlier, what provokes him to seek? What is it? Because if we're not intentional, we're reactive. Do we does it have to be that way, Art? Does it have to be going every 500 years? Does humanity's consciousness require a wake-up call? Or can we be more intentional about it? For example, we talk about political crisis, racism, uh the uh the the decimation of Native Americans and indigenous peoples around the world, the pandemic, commercialization, commoditization, corporatization, you know, computerization, all those things, the ugly five I talk about. Are those are those kind of like, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, that's just the way it is. There's nothing I can do about it. Just let me go on with my life, or do we pause a reset?
SPEAKER_00Well, let me let me go back the way you did it before. I'm gonna come back from the macro level to the micro level and just the individual. Do I believe that individuals have the ability to do their own pause work once they know about it and use that pause to uh help them to evolve and grow? Definitely I do believe in that. So if I believe in it in the micro, then it becomes a question is then you start talking about that idea of kind of this critical mass of consciousness. Well, how many people are willing to pause and do the work and how many people are are doing it at the same time so that there's this kind of a growth in mass consciousness that can shift things. So I'll just say that I don't know about the macro. I I come out of a tradition that uh whether I fully believed or not, I I absorbed, which had a theology that kind of said, you know, uh things are gonna have to be burned up one day, no matter what. So trying to get out of that mindset and see if there's another one on the macro level is still a struggle for me.
SPEAKER_03Mic drop. No, no, no, it's it's a lot, Art. I mean, I think for for people who are listening, I think it's important to like that's the question for you. What helps what helps you to pause, or what provokes you to pause, and what helps you to show up? And I think, you know, Art earlier said that he's a seeker, practitioner, and scholar as a whole. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00To be a scholar, you only got to be enrolled in school, right?
SPEAKER_03That's well, and progress.
SPEAKER_00Lifelong learner, right?
SPEAKER_03Right. That's exactly right. And so to me, the the idea here is that I'm gonna go back to the book. Imagine you're a connoisseur who has seen, heard, or tasted something new and powerfully irresistible. Something that we're talking about, there's something here. You you you might simply just treasure the moment and like, oh, that was really cool. This conversation's great. These guys are talking about something, but where is it all headed? You know, but I don't know. It sounds cool. So you might just do that. But if you're a connoisseur, you might be spurred to embark on an adventure, a quest to understand where is this all coming from? What ingredients were used, where were they sourced, who grew, created, or designed this? And as a connoisseur at the deepest level, you're like gonna take the time to explore, which is what we're doing here. That's where I wanted to come back. We are exploring the background, the history. Art just gave us a little bit of a history lesson, the origin. What is it about human consciousness that allows us to be fully alive to who we are and to this precious situation we're in? And I think at some level, Art, you're right, that these wake-up calls are in every spiritual, religious, mystical tradition, there's always a shock, there's always a wake up, there's always this, there's a constant idea that in the background, you know, the wake up. So anyone can respond to that or be with that. And but now that that's happened, what's next? What are we gonna do next? Where are we gonna go next? And because there's so much happening, and I think this is what Christy was saying earlier, there's so much going on. Life is such a blur, there's so many distractions, there's so much multitasking. I mean, you know, Christy has young children. Ronnie, you have children. How can you be present? How how how can you, in the middle of your day, when you're taking the kids here and there and one of them's sick, so in so in the book, in the end of the ferry ride, you talk about the re okay, I'm still present, but it's to ordinariness. Is that part of what we're you're kind of? I think so. I think ordinariness is part is part of this.
SPEAKER_02Hey, Joel, can I can I can I take it a step deeper from your question? Um, I I I think about you put it in the context. I at the time of this recording, I have a uh I have two boys, one nine, one five. And um, my youngest, uh, when he was in preschool, meant uh to pick him up and to drop him off. It it involved a quarter mile, almost a quarter mile walk to the foot to the facility, to the parking lot. And um, I remember talking to my mom, it was it was hot, school just started, I was dreading this walk with him. I, you know, I'm 6'4, I've got a long stride, he does not, so I'm dragging him through this, this, uh, this sidewalk while it's while it's so hot, it's taking forever. And uh my mom told me simply, she said, I know this seems bad, but you will miss these moments. And um here we are, that was that was maybe two years ago, and now I think about stuff like that. And to to to expound on your question, I think in terms of, you know, when you're in that situation, like you said, the middle of the day, and your kids are sick and you got all this stuff going on. What what hits that or what initiates that gong for me is the thought of this is gonna fly by before I know it. I am one day gonna look back, reminisce on this, and wish that I could just for one more day walk him that quarter mile from the parking lot to the school facility. So it's it's being mindful of that for me that his that gets me that gong.
SPEAKER_01I agree. My grandmother said the same thing to me. Because I I used to think that everything had to be in order, all my dishes had to be done, the house had to be clean, all these things had to be before I could enjoy life. And my grandmother, mind you, very meticulous woman, told me she said, Christy, your dishes are always going to be there. You're always going to have laundry, you're always gonna have these things, but your kids aren't. It's okay. At the end of the day, it's okay, you can do them then, but but your kids aren't going to always be there. And I struggled with that. I was like, pick up your toys, do this. And she goes, No, no, no. They they want to be there with you in your presence to play. It's okay. It's okay. I don't care, but you'll never get this time back. And I, you know, going back to that, you know, Fronnie, I I resonate with that. And I guess seeing it this way or listening to you makes me realize what she's really saying is is to be present with them. Because these these are the moments that you'll cherish and it won't be there. And now I have two that are, you know, are older and I have two that are younger, you know, and I see that, you know, between the two. It's like I still miss that. But I and it's easy to overlook the present moment of the two that I have here and not embrace that for all that it is and in the presence of what it is. And I think it's very hard as a parent. I love how you brought that up because you know, it's like, oh, you know, I mean, I guess I always thought presence just being I had to be totally quiet with nothing around, you know. But the realization that it doesn't, I can be present and enjoy my kids and join my family and and be be totally here with them now.
SPEAKER_03It's like art uh that's great. You know, last week Art talked about how life has gotten more messy. Yeah. Last time we last session, and uh you can be present in the mess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I never really thought, you know, I mean, it just causes you a thought that, oh, I guess I I am being present. It's just not the way that I thought it would look like. Or letting go of what you know.
SPEAKER_03That's the practitioner. That the seeker practitioner. So, Ronnie, when you're taking your boy to school, you're practice, you're you're not just a seeker, you're actually a practitioner. You see? Okay. You see that? And the fact that you shared that story with us now makes you a scholar.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and isn't it true that it's it's you just keep cycling through the three anyway? You don't reach a level and stop and master scholar, but aren't you constantly cycling back through all three?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but that's that's why I think what we're trying to do here is being present in the quest, being a connoisseur. You are whether you're interested in global change, political issues, deforestation, those things that call you to be present because for you, that's what matters, or whether it's your children, or or it's something else that you're passionate about, you're not gonna recycle art unless you have that desire. There's some there's got to be a desire, right? I think. And and that's what we're talking about in this session is what is your desire? You're invited, but why why would I want to come to this party? You know, is there gonna be cake? Are there gonna be girls? Yeah, what what what what's what's going on? So that's that's you're right. Yeah, we're always recycling, um, and we can be present through it all.
SPEAKER_01That's very deep.
SPEAKER_02It really is.
SPEAKER_01I mean, like you know, you almost have to pause this in the quietness of it because it it causes you to be like mentally, I'm in such a quiet place, but it's good.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's because people get this idea that mindfulness means you have to sit down on the cushion and watch your breath. And having so many experiences going on spiritual retreats and then coming home to the mess, I couldn't do it. I just, it was like, I need to go back. You know, I want to just become a monk, you know. I can't handle this crap, you know? And I that just happened over and over and over again for me. And it's like, I have to figure out a way where I can live my life. I can be a householder and not a monk. And I think that's a big struggle for a lot of people. They they retreat, they withdraw because they want to be present on the cushion or you know, uh with their uh spiritual advisor or their sponsor. Um, but then going out and doing the step in the real world, right? If you're doing 12-step work in the real world with people doing real amends, it's a whole nother thing. That's practice.
SPEAKER_00The fourth the fourth way, yeah.
SPEAKER_01This is what we teach people. We teach people the only way they typically in in this on these journeys is that the only way to be present is alone on a cushion in here. We don't we don't teach people how to be present amongst the chaos, amongst the life's happenings. So I mean this conversation is very enlightening because I think that's a conversation. This is a conversation that needed to be had, that you can be present while life is happening and amongst the happenings of life. You don't have to be on a cushion by yourself, you know, wrapped up in circles, you know, to be present or to be on this quest. You can enjoy life and be on it.
SPEAKER_03I hope you are enjoying the conversation so far. I just want to mention that I will be doing a full-day Quest for Presence workshop in San Diego this September 2023. You can find details on our website. I hope you enjoy listening to the rest of the episode. In the book, you know, I say, I want I want you to revitalize, even revolutionize your relationship with time, allowing you to be fully present in this life you've been given. Two scenarios may help. First, imagine that you read this to a loved one who is close to death and only has a few days left of mental clarity. Second, perhaps you just returned from the funeral of a loved one or experienced other significant loss. Both of these seemingly extreme circumstances call us to be present. I refer to these as seemingly extreme because, you know, it's like it's it seems this way, but truly we we we we wake up and realize, wow, here we are in this situation. This is it, this is our life, this is what's happening now. I'm taking the kid to school. I'm I'm you know, life is happening, our time is limited. We better show up in whatever way we can. And it's not easy. It's not, and we need each other, instead of it just being a solo journey, we're all all of us are doing this together. That's what this is about. We're we're here to help each other do that. Whether you're a practitioner, a seeker, a scholar, or all three, or whether you don't even know what you are.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Reenvisioning my presence, it really is. Yeah. I mean, it's not something, you know. I ever thought about that be oddly could be done in the presence of others. But yet that's our gift. Is the presence of others and just embracing them, just like being here with you all. I mean, actually embracing what that is. I mean, it's like a I mean you almost have to just be quiet and just enjoy the essence of it's like a fleeting thought. It's always ever changing.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for listening. You're always welcome to join our community at www.presencequest.life. Also, please join me and friends this coming September, 2023, in San Diego for a full day Quest for Presence workshop. You can find details on our website. See you later, Time Weavers.