How impermanence actually invites presence

Hey you.

Let me cut to the chase today. Heads up, it's not pretty.

I recently got back to Colorado after being home in France and Denmark. While I was gone, a shooting happened in Denver area murdering 5 people, impacting the BIPOC community plus there were two fires that destroyed more than 1,000 homes just miles from me. 

Loss. Horror. Devastation. Tragedy.

When this happens, it brutally reminds us of the impermanence in this world. 

Nothing is guaranteed and trust me, I know that is terrifying. In these moments we’re invited to feel all of the pain and take time to reflect. 

There are two ways to work with impermanence.

You can choose to ask “Why?” Why did this happen? Why build a home if it can just burn down? Why invest in a relationship if it will end? Why get excited for a job if I don’t get it? We feel hopeless, and we focus on the pain, trauma and loss.

Or you can choose to find presence. You can feel the strengthened support of your BIPOC community. You can see the beauty of having built your home. You can lean into the beautiful moments you share with your partner. You can choose to see a job opening as an opportunity to grow rather than a chance to fail. 

Impermanence invites presence.

How can I live life to the fullest in the midst of tragedy you might ask? Fires, shooting, violence, a pandemic that has changed the course of life for two years now. 

It’s ok to feel resistant to impermanence.

See if you can maybe find ONE moment of gratitude, one moment of humbleness, one moment of connection with your loved ones.

Let go of obsessing about that picture that you no longer have. Let go of thinking about yesterday and that dumb comment you made to the cashier at Target. Let go worrying you’ll forget how to talk during that presentation you have tomorrow. 

I know this is hard, and I also know you have the innate power to do this. 

You can choose to appreciate the way things are at this very moment. Not what they could be in two months from now or a year from now or hell even maybe ten minutes from now. 

Breathe in this moment of presence as you read this right now. 

In this impermanence. In this n’between. Let the uncertainty allow you to completely immerse yourself in the now.

If you’ve lost a loved one, a home or are moving through any grievance process, know that I’m thinking of you and sending you the biggest hug.

XX

Nora