It took awhile to come up with this post but since the beginning of the year, I knew the one word that I would like to be my guide for 2018. I’ve chanced upon this word several times late last year during meditation, and I must agree, it best signifies how I would like to live my life this year. It ought to be “be present” but since that clearly violates the concept, I settled for present.

Present is an adjective that connotes {of a person} in a particular place.  The word is synonymous to:

• in attendance
• here
• nearby
• {close/near} at hand
• available

The word also means existing or occurring now and is synonymous to current, present-day, or existing. I thought both meanings are applicable.

As always, I would love to be present in the here and now. Be present whilst life unfolds before me as life is way too short. If I am elsewhere, I will be missing a lot of what’s happening in the present, its simple pleasures, its simple miracles. Much like this photo I took earlier today. If I was preoccupied as usual and not in tune in the present, I wouldn’t have noticed this beautiful butterfly circling in my plants this morning, perhaps visiting her birthing place. It was probably the same caterpillar that feasted on my calamansi plant not too long ago, and took one of its little branches to cocoon itself, biding its time to become what it is today. Don’t you love the details on its wings?