All We Ever Have Is Now

Kelly Lawrence from Shambhala SunSite

Yesterday, I posted a quote from Bill Cosby in which he said, “The past is a ghost, the future is a dream, and all we ever have is now.” Today we examine an article by Kelly Lawrence titled, “Harnessing the Here and Now.”

The article appeared on the Shambhala SunSpace website from “The Under 35 Project.”

What is attractive about this article is that it echos what Bill Cosby said in a very timely fashion. All we have is now… now… now… We have everything we need to be happy in the present moment.

She begins her article with:

The present moment, we are often told by those in the know, is all we have. Yet it generally feels like the one thing I don’t have…I have tried to capture this elusive present in meditation, in my yoga practice, on shamanic healing retreats and in chanting circles, only of course to realize that as soon as you try to hold on to it… poof! It’s gone. I have had to admit to myself that that blissful sense of timelessness, that here, now; free from ruminating over the past or worrying about the future is more easily accessible to me lying in a bubble bath with a glass of red wine after the children have finally gone to bed, than it has ever been on my meditation cushion…[Read More…].

This is where she parts company with Bill Cosby. Kelly begins to tell how her creative process of writing Japanese haiku – short poems of three lines and seventeen symbols – taught her how to stay present. She writes:

Haiku to me sums up that expansive feeling — whether it describes a sudden flash of inspiration, or a single moment that might otherwise go unnoticed, a smell, a taste, a look, a routine part of our day suddenly seen for the gift it is.

One of her well-written haiku poems is

I do not believe faith
Moves mountains
But it makes them easier to climb

I find her other haiku very interesting. You probably will like them too.

Please return here after reading her poetry and write about what you think.