Presence as a bullshit detector.

There is a kind of presence that, with practice, has the side effect of being a pretty solid bullshit detector.

Lots of us are taught from childhood to look outside ourselves for the compass that will show us the way - the 'right' way, the way forwards, the way to get what we want from our lives. And there's definitely a place for that - when we're small, we need to learn about the world, and it's useful to orient ourselves to what's happening around us, relationally and in the world.

It's less useful when listening to external "authority" (I use that term very loosely) is all you do - when you miss the step of developing, listening to and learning to trust your INNER compass. Your own authority. 

Capitalism likes it when you're disconnected from your inner compass. It means you'll probably listen to all the marketing messages telling you you're not enough, or that the answer to your problems is "this amazing 3 step process" that you have to pay someone lots of money to teach you, which may or may not actually work for you.

Looking to other people to point you in the right direction can also tangle you up sometimes. There is a place for listening - to trusted teachers, to people who have done what you want to do, to those who hold you in their hearts and want the best for you. But you also need to listen to yourself. Because if you end up making your decisions based on what someone else tells you to do, or what you think someone else would think you should do, without checking in with your own inner compass - it's easy to end up so far off the path you're not sure where the path even is anymore.

I know that because I've done it, and now I'm in the lifelong process of unlearning that, and instead taking into account advice and opinions from others, but giving the most weight to my own inner compass. 

How do you learn to hear and listen to your inner compass? Now we're back where we started - with presence. And it's all well and good to say "be present", but how?

There's a very simple question that you can ask yourself when you think of it throughout the day:

Right now, how am I feeling?

And then pause, and listen to the response. If it's something a bit general, like 'sad', see if you can figure out what flavour of sadness. Lonely? Melancholy? Nostalgic?

Usually, when you get it, it will just feel right.

And it's that 'right' feeling that we're looking for. Getting to know it, and starting to notice it when we feel it (which will also help us know when we don't feel it).

Right now, how are you feeling?

Perhaps the answer is 'thirsty'. So maybe you get yourself a glass of water. How did that feel? Is there a sense of yes, that is what I needed? Or is there a sense of actually, no. I wanted wine, or chamomile tea.

Through experimenting with this almost too simple question, and paying attention to what you notice, you start to calibrate your inner compass. And so when you're out in the world, creating a life that feels uniquely yours and deeply satisfying, you can trust your inner compass to guide you there.

This kind of presence, this kind of inner compass, enables you to become almost unshakable (you'll probably still get shaken sometimes - you're human. But when you do, it's so much easier to come back to centre), because you're tuned in to what YOU truly need and what will work for YOU - and so anything that isn't that will feel off to you. So that is your mission, should you choose to accept it - for the week and for the rest of your life.

Starting now: right now, how are you feeling?