The Fool card from the Tarot Illuminati by Eric C. Dunne and published by Lo Scarabeo

But why should you care about Presence? What’s the point of it? How does it help me? I have problems…

I’ve worked with many clients over the years who have struggled with their thoughts and feelings about certain circumstances in their lives.

This is not to minimize whatever challenges or difficulties they faced. Those are real and experienced as such.

But sometimes when you don’t get a “win” for a while it can knock the starch out of you. Put out the fires.

You start to wonder what’s the point of this rat race? Is there something deeper than just surviving and looking for a thrill or avoiding disappointments as best I can?

Personal Development, Anyone?

Maybe you try growing personally (Life will make that happen to a certain extent anyways) and this is actually wise.

It’s crucial to develop some level of personal will and discipline to function at a decent baseline in this world.

Maybe you also decide to find love. This is way to huge a topic for this article, but the point is that even if you succeed with finding a willing and awesome partner, there’s still something missing.

Maybe you just say to hell with it and start drinking more. Or you start going to yoga retreats and begin a formal meditation practice.

Or maybe it’s some kind of therapy that has the solution...

It’s important to recognize that none of these things are unhelpful (except maybe the drinking LOL) In fact, you need all the tools you can get.

But there’s something we’re all thirsting for: Call it meaning. Call it God. Call it Presence or Beingness. It's all pointing at the same thing.

This brings me to what Presence is and how it can help in a very practical way.

What Is Presence?

Notice the thoughts going through your head right now.

Are you actually those thoughts? We usually identify with our thoughts without noticing that we are not our thoughts.

We have thoughts.

Thoughts are constantly streaming through your head all day. Some seem intentional like when you focus on something but most are random.

You can verify this for yourself simply by checking periodically throughout the day. Many thoughts are just garbage and useless, right? Even a song on endless loop (I call it an earworm) in your head. Why doesn’t it stop?

This is all under the domain of thought.

But who or what is aware of thought? Who or what is observing the thought?

When you can feel yourself seated in that space of awareness where thought is recognized as thought, that is Presence. Notice that this presence or awareness requires no effort at all to be.

Just to clarify, Presence is just a word. A word that points to something beyond itself.

Mystics throughout the ages have referred to it as the inner divine spark of God.

Yeah, but I Still Have Bills To Pay!

Of course. So do I. 

Back to the challenges and even traumatic experiences we all face or have faced.

As I said above, on the level of the body and mind, those are real and deserve to be recognized as such.

But without access to Presence, or the “awareness of being aware,” those states of mind become overwhelmingly negative and painful.

When you have even some access to Presence, you recognize the space around the thoughts and feelings.

This isn’t about bypassing the thoughts and feelings or denying that they are there.

In fact, with Presence, you can actually feel the feelings more fully without drowning in them.

You can feel the wetness of the water by swimming instead of struggling to stay afloat.

If your heart is broken you know your heart is broken. But you are also connected with the divine part within you that transcends that broken heart.

The essential part of you that is never touched by the things of this world.

Again, a caution not to bypass. I wrote an article on how to navigate this here. 

What Presence gives you is both dimensions but they are in fact, seamless.

By being connected with the transcendent, you aren’t as afraid to be spontaneous or creative.

You aren’t always playing it safe.

You aren’t as afraid to risk your heart in love.

BUT you also have wisdom to temper this courage. Your discernment is not as bound by bias. 

I’m not saying you’ll ever be completely free from bias as what would life be without a variety of preference?

I’m saying you’ll have a more transparent mind to see what’s actually happening in your life and make decisions from a place of greater internal freedom.

In Summary

At the very least, becoming aware of Presence will take any unnecessary sting out of life. It will also protect your sanity. And, most importantly, because it’s much more than some kind of therapy (as it’s not just the person working on the person to be better), it can actually lead to the one thing you’re thirsting for. 

The one thing you’re looking for without perhaps realizing it. You will open yourself to a greater potential for receiving Grace and knowing God as a Reality beyond something intellectual. This will supply you with the faith you need to keep going for those times when that Grace is not there.

And the bills and the relationship ups and downs and all the pressures will still be there; but so will you. Only now there's more of you than before.

If this is the territory you're ready to explore directly, Presence Sessions are available. You can learn more and book here.