I set my phone aside yesterday evening and turned off all the lights in my room and did something passing for yoga, there in the half-dark. It was strange. I wasn't trying to accomplish anything or be anyone or focus intently on any problem. I was just there. In that moment.
I had this thought, which probably sounds a little silly, but: this is how my cat always experiences life.
There is no digital technology that can take her away from the present moment. She doesn't check Facebook every fifteen minutes or let her food get cold while she tries to find the perfect Instagrammable angle. No wonder she stares at me blankly sometimes and tries to kick my phone on the floor in the morning. She has no grid for this out-of-body experience that is the Western human life. She cannot transcend herself to connect with other cats a thousand miles away--and thereby disconnect from the cats that are here in the present moment.
Running away. Forgetting how to be yourself. It's easy when the present is a daunting space and all your problems threaten to crowd out your pleasures.
But to spend a non-judgmental moment in your own skin--that is a rare gift. Find a way, and make it happen.
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