Sculpting Project: Exploring the Now Here
I am walking on the top of the little mesa above our house. To my south and east I have 
sweeping views of the mountain ranges I love. This is one of my favorite places to explore the Now Here.
Our soul sculpting project this week is to go on a 3 minute exploration walk of the Now and Here.
The Now and Here is fairly familiar to a few of us and if you are one of those few this project will be a piece of cake for you. – And it will probably be cake you really like.
But most of us are less familiar with the Now and Here and many of us barely know it exists. For us this will be a brave venture into a new land.
How To: Exploring the Now Here
- Choose place for a 3 minute walk. Preferably outside. (Inside can hold more challenging distractions.)
- Invite God to accompany you.
- Focus your attention on the Now and the Here.
Feel free to:
- Use your 5 senses
- Notice what is happening in your body
- Chat with God about the Now and the Here.
Remember that God is unseen but very much in The Now and Here
The Rules: Banned Behavior
- No worrying
- No planning
- No regretting
- No analyzing / judgment /critical thinking
- No phone or media (It may be ‘now’ but it is not ‘here’.)
- No beating yourself up for anything – including not doing this project ‘right’.
When this 3 minute walk is over you can worry, plan, and regret …. as much as you want.
But for this 3 minutes it is banned.
Challenges we meet as we explore the Now Here:
Will our minds wander from the Now and Here? Absolutely!
How many times will they wander?
When I began this Practice my mind wandered away every 5 seconds or so.
The Good news: I have gained some skill at paying attention to the Now Here so my mind wanders less now.
We can learn to take control of our thoughts – with training like this project.
When our mind wanders here is the procedure we can follow:
- Recognize that this is normal.
- Smile.
- Return our attention to the Now and Here.
When our mind wanders again -we smile, and return our attention to the Now and Here.
Repeat this process as often as needed.
Do not despair at the degree of mind wandering.
This process of gently returning our attention over and over is excellent training for the skill of focused attention.
A second challenge we may meet is the sudden urge to do something else.
Anything but the hard work of exploring the Now and Here.
We will suddenly recall that we have not done the dishes or answered an email and this is the moment when we must get to it. We may recall something that we have left undone for months that suddenly needs urgent attention.
It may indeed need our attention – but not in this 3 minutes.
Goals of our Soul Sculpting Projects:
- Connect more deeply with God.
- Increase our ability to thrive.
Remembering that our thriving will contribute to the thriving of others.
How does this exploration help us connect with God?
The Now and Here is the time and place we can actually make connection with God.
As Archbishop Anthony Bloom taught establishing ourselves in the present moment is an essential skill for relating to God.
Now and Here is the when and where we encounter God.
How does this exploration promote thriving?
- Our minds are somewhere other that the present moment 30-80% of our day. A large-scale study by Matt Killingsworth demonstrated that we are happiest when we are in the Now and Here.
- A series of studies out of the University of Rochester studied individuals who had trained themselves to be skilled at focused attention to the Now and Here.
Research found that these individuals were high in flourishing and mental health.
These Now and Here folks were more likely to be:
Optimistic, self-confident, high in life satisfaction .
They were less likely to be:
Depressed, angry anxious, hostile, self-conscious, impulsive, or neurotic.
These Now and Here experts also had more positive emotion, more positive social relationships and experienced less illness.
- The skill of awareness of the Now and Here is a key part of programs out of Oxford England and Seattle Washington that have high success rates in treating depression and addiction.
Imagine the skill of being able to step out of destructive thought patterns. Imagine the ability to take control of our thinking.
Tips for Exploring the Now and Here.
- I have two things I bring on my exploration walks. Post-it notes and a golf pencil. When my mind wanders to a concern that I feel like I really must remember, I write it down. Knowing it is on paper helps me let it go and return to the moment.
- You might want to connect this project to a short walk that you are already taking each day, whether is walking the dog or walking to your car after work. His will lower the need for memory and effort.
Soul Sculpting Project: Exploring the Now Here
- Choose place for a 3 minute walk.
- Invite God to accompany you.
- Focus your attention on the Now and the Here.
Follow the rules for 3 minutes: No worrying, planning, regretting, analyzing, phones or beating yourself up.
May we discover wonders as we train ourselves to explore the Now and Here.
soulsculpting 