"Nailed to the present moment"

Today is Tuesday, August 23, 2011.  It is 8:50 am, the weather is totally beautiful, not humid, not hot, a perfect day.

Today, Libya is in chaos.  The rebels seems to be overthrowing the government, although there are still some questions about how they will manage to actually govern, if they do succeed in getting rid of Qadhafi. 


The world economy remains in a tenuous state.  There is fighting all over.  There is illness and birth and great sadness, and memories of 9/11 as we get closer to the 10th anniversary.  Today's weather reminds me of 9/11/01.

This is what I read today in "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron:

"The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.  That's what we're going to discover again and again and again.  Nothing is what we thought.  I can say that with great confidence.  Emptiness is not what we thought.  Neither is mindfulness or fear.  Compassion - not what we thought. Love, Buddha nature.  Courage.  These are code words for things we don't know in our minds, but any of us could experience them.  These are words that point to what life really is when we let things fall apart and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment."

Whatever we are feeling in the present moment, is good.  Yesterday afternoon, I was feeling some discomfort and I didn't enjoy it.  But I sat with it and then I had a conversation with a friend who had also had some difficult feelings during the day - and before too long, we were both laughing and somehow the feelings lifted.  I remember saying, if I just let the feelings in and don't fight them, somehow they lift.  After we hung up, I received an email thanking me for something I'd said in an earlier email and that totally lifted my spirits.  

Today I will live in the present moment and experience whatever shows up. But first I will buy dog food.