It's All Happening Now

“Yes, there is a lot of scary stuff happening right now, but there’s also so much beauty,” I said.

“It’s all happening now.” And as these words came out of my mouth I was transported back to a moment in college I will never forget.

I was standing in the middle of my dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College, staring at a print on my wall of the New York City skyline. The skyline that was destroyed a few days earlier.

It was September 2001, and the world had just changed in a way that was horrifying and confusing. We carried on with normal life while nothing felt normal.

I still couldn’t believe it was gone. I stood there running through every terrifying what-if. What if this is just the beginning of something much worse?

And then something made me look out the window.

It felt like a gentle energy moved my head, like a hand against my cheek telling me where to look.

There, underneath a tree, catching the light like it had been placed there on purpose, was a purple crocus in full bloom.

I stopped.

All of the what-if’s in my head stopped.

I hadn’t noticed that flower before. Do those purple flowers bloom in September, I wondered.

And then I heard something. Not with my ears. Something deeper. Something that felt bigger than me, bigger than my fear, bigger than the news cycle running on a loop.

Flowers are still blooming.

Babies are coming into the world right now to tears of joy.

People are laughing, smiling, and hugging.

People are getting married and celebrating.

Animals are sleeping. The earth continues on.

There is still so much good happening in this very moment.

I stood there like I had just fallen asleep, shown a movie, and woken back up — in one second.

What was that? I thought.

It was a reminder that all that is, is happening now.

I’ve been thinking about that crocus a lot lately.

There’s so much coming at us politically, personally, collectively. It can feel relentless. Like there’s no safe place to rest your attention without finding something that breaks your heart or raises your blood pressure or makes you wonder what’s next.

And in the middle of all of that, it can be so easy to forget.

There is still so much good happening in this very moment.

There are still people doing extraordinarily kind things for strangers.

There are still babies picking up a Cheerio with their thumb and first finger for the first time and losing their minds with delight.

There are still flowers blooming in wondrous places, as if the earth itself is trying to remind us of something.

The good hasn’t gone anywhere.

It’s just harder to see when we’re inundated by so much.

But we still have the power to look.

So here’s what I want to offer you today. Not a framework. Not five steps. Just a few questions to sit with:

What made you smile or laugh this week — even once?

What do you love?

What makes you feel alive?

What beauty in nature have you noticed?

Don’t see it? Go looking. I am surrounded by blooming dogwoods and cherry blossoms that stop me in my tracks.

Look for the beauty that’s hiding in plain sight. Take a walk in nature. Look at a dog’s smile. Notice how a toddler walks. Seek what makes you laugh. Let yourself be moved by something small and real and right in front of you.

This is about experiencing the divine spirit of Life.

I write regularly about aliveness, fear, and the inner choices that shape our lives. Get the next one in your inbox.