When I thought about starting this blog, I wasn’t sure where it would go. I’m still not! Expect a peripatetic ramble through my travels (hopefully many), alternative health, progressive politics, metaphysical ideas, panic over the environment and even my favorite restaurants. At least for now. I’m happy to have you along for the ride.

Life is so diverse and stimulating that there’s not much incentive to lop off parts. How interesting that as much as the world changes, no matter how insanely fast life becomes, what may be most crucial to our human experience seems to stay the same. Not just our actual physical situation — need for food, shelter, love and so forth — but the way we deal with those things in our lives.

I’m hardly an expert, but maybe the sanest way to juggle life’s demands is to start by staying aware of where you are, both physically and mentally. By being present.

Present is an interesting word. Remember how we used to shout it out at roll call in school? “Yes, I’m here!” It was acknowledgement of being in the situation. But present also refers to a place in time. If you are present, you are not past and not future.

This is a big challenge. Our bodies may be in one place, but our minds are all over the map. That constant drift back and forth in time can be crazy making.

Meditation is sometimes called a practice, and I think what you are practicing is, essentially, staying present. I’m not convinced we all need to sit down in a quiet corner to do this.