Here Now: An Exercise

I signed up for this thing with the USPS that emails me to tell me what's in my mailbox. Just writing it out emphasizes how absurd this is. My mailbox is about 40 yards from where I am typing this. The excitement of Is There Any Mail For Me is going the way of Did Anyone Leave A Message On My Machine While I Was Out.

This is not a blog post about In My Day. It is a post about Today. Our Days. Now. This is about making sure we maintain some mystery in our lives, and thereby the possibility of discovery.

When was the last time you took a walk around your block without your telephone? No camera, no texts, just eyes up or down, taking in the details and bigger picture of where you live? It's easy to take the mundane for granted and just disconnect from it.

The little spots of joy and necessary views of tragedy we are missing have the cummulative effect of pushing us further out of reach not just to other people, but to ourselves. Taking away the element of chance in having every photo posed, every event planned around "content" is not a healthy thing. Yet here we are.

The exercise is this: Go outside of your home without your phone. A small trip, yes, around your block, and look. See what's growing in the cracks of the sidewalk. See if there are trees nearby. Greet someone. "Hello." If you live in the country, go for a walk or sit in the field or woods. Feel the earth itself. Make a small connection, let your mind and heart respond to your surroundings without worrying about "like" or "love" or any other reaction from the screen. Five minutes. Just five minutes to just be in the world.

I am tempted - of course - to go do this and bring you back some pictures! But I am going to just be instead. Can I do it? Can you? Let's find out.