365 Days of Presence was a year long exploration into making a good life in each small moment of 2015. Each month we started off with a package of worksheets to explore a new aspect of living with presence and every day a new page is sent with readings and reflections on the work of trying to make a life well-lived.
Each day there is at least one moment of grace, imagine if we could live inside those moments, stretching them into a life we love like a string of simple pearls – a shining strand of handmade days. Presence is in part making a habit of noticing the small pleasures mixed in with the tumult of living. It is also naming the dark feelings that flutter through our hearts and navigating the rushing of loss, grief, fear, and lack, with confidence and firm steps in each moment. A life of presence means really paying attention to what is real and not missing the small opportunities all around us to make a life of meaning – whether it is pausing with an elder, admiring a sunset, listening to a child, learning a new skill, sitting with pain, or taking time with a harried salesperson – being in the present means controlling how we act or react to now.
“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea
A life of contentment doesn’t mean a life where nothing gets done, it can be a life of deliberate action where each decision is made from strength and confidence. Once we are rooted in what is (not what we wish it could be) we can find contentment even amidst uncertainty and learn to welcome change like an old friend, secure in knowing that within us, in each moment, there is everything we need to transform irritating grains of sand into pearls.
In committing to a daily practice of presence we can make a habit of existing in each moment no matter how uncomfortable that moment may be. This course is for anyone who has ever wanted permission to not have to lean in or out, but who wants to weave themselves into the rhythms of real life where the days are full of small sweetnesses to treasure along with all the hard stuff we need to carry. Together we will practice presence daily until it becomes a well-loved tool we can reach for no matter what may happen around us.
This course is a balm for the busy, rest for the weary, and calm for the anxious. There is no homework, to-dos, or obligations – once you register all you need to do is receive. I’ll visit you each day of 2015 with a moment of reflection and words to inspire us to thoughtful action curated from an extensive reading list and personal lessons. We’ll explore a quality related to presence monthly with a small bundle of digital worksheets.
Visit here to find the complete archive of #365DaysOfPresence or sign up here to receive the daily emails. This project is offered by donation if you find value in it and want to contribute click here to give what you can.
In the end our big achievements might be remembered but our lives are a string of small moments we can either endure or celebrate. The product is indivisible from either the process or the maker. As Gwendolyn MacEwen wrote in her introduction to A Breakfast for Barbarians; “to live consciously is holy, while merely to exist is sacrilege.” Instead of trying to figure it all out or have everything planned we can navigate difficult and delightful times by being awake for the little moments, seeing the gift in each new day instead of waiting for some perfect tomorrow.
What gifts will you discover this year?
#365DayOfPresence is hosted by Jessika Hepburn, you can learn more about her work as a community organizer and creative consultant & the reason why all this matters here or find her supporting makers of goodness @ohmyhandmade & pioneering new models of cooperation with @maritimemakers.
