Staying Present

To the person who sparked my creativity today: Thank you

I’ve been having a hard time staying present recently. Can I solely blame this on the fact that we have access to every piece of information ever created in the palm of our hands? Has my brain turned to mush as I continue to look at some sort of screen for 12 hours a day?

My friend Mark has a good joke about this. We spend our work days looking at a medium-sized screen, so after work we can relax by looking at a somewhat larger screen, and before bed, like a sweet treat, you get to swipe through a small screen. The cycle repeats.

In recent memory, I have found that a lot of people would rather watch a concert or an event through their phones than just enjoy it. Who is watching your 3-minute-long video anyway? I think it’s really sad to walk into a public place where everyone’s heads are down in their own little world. Don’t get me wrong, I fall into this world myself sometimes; I just know it’s such a waste of time. You sit down, and just like that, an hour has gone by consuming mindless media.

Can you really remember that reel you just watched, or the one before that?

What does it mean to be present? Aren’t you always present? Yes, but I see a lot of people who aren’t really here if that makes sense. The way I describe it is in NPC mode. (Non-playable character). Sure, they are physically here and present, but they more often just take up "space.”

I think one of the many reasons I enjoy surfing is because I’m away from all of it. The trends, the 7 seconds of dopamine feeding my brain from constant content, the distractions, the constant buzzing from my phone. I’m forced to accept the fact that I will be doing this activity for a period of time, and I can’t worry about the things happening outside of this moment. Same with running or biking, which is what inspired this piece.

The other weekend, I found myself biking throughout Santa Barbara. It had been awhile since I had a day to myself, and I really wanted to take in everything it had to offer. I used to hate doing things by myself, feeling so vulnerable and judged. I learned it’s better to experience life than not experience anything at all. With that piece of advice, coffee in hand, and a bike fully charged (bless the electric bike), down the hill I went, heading towards town. It was the summer solstice festival—a parade and celebration to start off the summer. What a day to start the summer—75 and not a cloud in the sky.

The first stop was the farmer's market. While I didn’t end up buying anything, this was a great way to ease into being in public alone. Like an outside grocery store, I awkwardly smiled as I passed other patrons looking at various fruits and mushrooms. I could hear the parade starting a couple blocks away. As I shuffled through the crowd, I had no idea what I was in store for.With feelings of being in midsommer, I was confused and entraced by the characters roaming the streets. Dressed in the customs of butterflies and mythical summer creatures, I accepted the fact that this parade was a hippie’s paradise.

I decided to walk towards the front, trying to get to the beginning of the parade. Doing my best version of a salmon swimming upstream, trying to wade through, I was stopped not once but twice for my shirt. I never thought anything special of it, but it was a good practice to talk to strangers. I actually never really looked at my shirt before I left the house. The first time I was stopped was by an older couple, not my best work of wading. They asked me about it, and like them, I actually finally looked at the white shirt print for the first time. They laughed as they saw how puzzled I was about the scene happening as it was.

We had figured out it was some sort of French Space Godzilla-type movie. They said they would check it out later, and I finished with a killer line. "Have a great solstice". I ended up walking to the front of the parade, getting a view of the street now filled with blocks with makeshift floats and various performers. My favorite was a man wearing stripped clothes from head to toe and a cymbal attached around his neck. What did he do you ask? Well, he was the cymbal guy; he went up to the parade watchers and hit his cymbal. He seemed normal compared to the rest.

I spent a little bit more time standing and watching the people pass before deciding to head somewhere new with a change of scenery. As I passed down towards the beach, I had a sudden urge to find a new trinket. Leading me to my next conversation, I found myself at a surf shop. I started up a conversation with the guy working there, exchanging recent surf trips and upcoming swells. Back and forth in the fitting room, I had settled on some new clothes, but as I walked out, I still didn’t feel like I had it all. My head on a swivel, a small sign on the corner caught my eye; it read: New Location Two Blocks Up Men’s Clothing and Vinyl Record. What else could I ask for? I stumbled into the small shop on the corner with curated clothes—no vinyl in sight. A lady behind the counter was deep into her computer but greeted me as I walked in. Being the only two people in this small space, I felt like I had to say something to lighten the mood, and I used to work in retail. After asking to buy one of the many trinkets in the store, we got to talking about life. I honestly learned a lot about this person in this conversation, which felt like an hour. The biggest takeaway was that she also makes lists like I do about new artists to check out. It’s a good reminder to see how small the world is sometimes. As we exchanged people to check out, I learned about life in SB and beyond. As I left, I almost forgot to ask a name and I may have forgot it now. I thanked her for her time and new music recs as I went on my way. I took the long way home around the beach, I went through my interactions, figuring out why I had felt present. That’s when my phone started to buzz. A call….. I’ll get it later. My phone had been on silent the entire day.

So what’s the point of all this? As much as life has become so virtual, I think we sometimes forget to create new interactions in the real world. It’s easy to forget how nice it is to set out on a day with no plans, meet some people, have some conversations, and go on our ways. I worry sometimes about what’s going to happen as we spend more time looking down rather than looking around. Who knows, but I’m not going to spend anymore time thinking about it becuase that sounds like a headache. I guess just look up and stop and smell the roses.

If you find yourself also struggling to stay present here are some ways I’ve been able to break this trance and feel present. And don’t do it to take a picture

(honestly leave your phone)

• Go outside

• I know this is so simply but just getting away from screens and constant scrolling can really just be a mood booster. Like a simple walk, leave your phone or put it on DND, touch grass.

• Do something you don’t normally do

• Break the cycle do something you’ve never done or haven’t done in awhile

• Talk to a stranger

• When’s the last time you had a conversation with a stranger? (Be safe about this)

• This is a little harder but ask someone a deeper question, and really care. Not like “How has your day been”, learn something new

• Lay on the beach or a park

• Again super simple and you could combo it with a walk. The point is to just not be on your phone here nothing huge

• Do an physical activity

• I know running isn’t for everyone but if you want to feel alive really quickly sprint around the block.

• Go on a bike ride

• I know this is hard to do if you don’t have a bike, but you probably know someone with a bike, or maybe even two. Go on a little cruise, look at the trees, you’ll definitely feel present
  

As always… till next time