I have heard of this practice for a long while, but always had a hard time understanding what it meant exactly- until recently, after randomly opening up to one of my customer’s Nephews (in his 30s or 40s) who happened to be hanging around while I was working, and happened to be right about on my level thought-style conversation wise. He asked what I was into, and for some reason instead of saying “fishing” I said:
“I love cultivating a particular atmosphere, basking in it, sharing it with loved ones- it’s really my favorite thing, almost to a spiritual level” to which he responded:
“Oh, Being Present. You’re fanatical about being present.”
By Jove, I suppose I am.
Never quite saw the forest through the trees on that one I fear.
I remember Mike Judge describing how he writes Beavis and Butthead, describing how he dumbs his brain down as much as he can to its purest Id form, blocking out conscious strategic thought, and just going with the first gut-level impulsive thought in reaction to fresh stimuli.
There is a part of ‘being present’ that forbids the same kind of strategic conscious thought that Judge dodged to write Beavis and Butthead. I confess I have a similar obsession with dodging that kind of thought, either as a conscious effort at Existing within these various cultivated atmospheres to which I am so fond, or as an unconscious aversion after a lifetime of worry and strategy and inner turmoil.
It’s like, once you achieve peace within yourself, the entire purpose of Thinking evaporates.
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