TRANSCRIPT

I’m Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

Writers are professional noticers. If you’re a writer, you make it your business to be present and to pay attention. To be sensitive, attuned, observant. And when you’re truly present in the moment, taking in the world around you, it’s not just going to improve your writing — it’s going to improve your life.

There are a lot of books and podcasts about mindfulness. Many of us need to be reminded, frankly, to stay in the moment. We need to be reminded to be present. I have a giant reminder in my living room, on the mantel above the fireplace. It’s a simple, graphic print of a large hand being raised, and beneath the hand is the word “here.”

Remember teachers taking attendance when you were a child? When they said your name, you’d raise your hand and say, “Here.” You were physically there, and that is what you got credit for when your teacher called roll.

But there is a difference between being physically present and having present-moment awareness. Being mindful and aware in the present moment means fully engaging with what’s happening right now instead of going on autopilot, ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future.

I find that I enjoy moments so much more when I remind myself to focus, to dial in, to notice. It’s easy to get stressed out or sad or grumpy if we’re stuck replaying something from the past or imagining various scenarios about the future. And the research on this is clear: According to a 2010 Harvard study, happiness is inversely related to mind wandering. In other words, the more time we spend thinking about something other than our present activity, the worse we feel.

These findings give me hope. I think they’re empowering. We spend so much money in this country on things we think will make us happier and more fulfilled, but this isn’t a thing at all — it’s an action inside us. Being present costs us nothing. It requires no special equipment. No special location. We can all do better at noticing, and at keeping ourselves open to what we’re experiencing right now.

Today’s poem is a good reminder that the present is just that — a gift.

You Reading This, Be Ready
by William Stafford

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting 
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life –

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

"You Reading This, Be Ready" by William Stafford from ASK ME © 2014 William Stafford. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Graywolf Press.