Quiet Clarity is a 2x/week newsletter and podcast for people who want to build a life of presence, depth, and deliberate intention.
You ever catch yourself living everywhere except where you actually are?
Planning tomorrow's meeting during today's conversation.
Replaying yesterday's mistake while missing today's opportunity.
That constant mental time travel that steals your actual life.
But you keep drifting.
You keep chasing future happiness.
You keep fixing past regrets.
You keep wondering why nothing feels quite real.
So what if the only moment that exists is the one you're avoiding?
Where It Showed Up in My Life
I was at a talk by philosopher Rupert Spira when someone asked the question that cracked everything open.
"How do I be present in my true being?"
Rupert's response was masterful in its simplicity: "Describe to me how you know you are 'being.'"
My friend started confidently: "I'm breathing and..."
"No, that's doing. Describe being."
"I feel..."
"No, that's feeling."
The silence that followed was deafening. My friend sat there, mouth slightly open, searching for words that didn't exist. In that wordless moment, Rupert smiled.
"Good. Now you're getting there."
That's when it hit me - we spend so much time thinking about being present that we miss actually being present. It's like trying to describe water while you're drowning in concepts about H2O.
I'd been living my entire life either in the rearview mirror or through the windshield, never actually sitting in the driver's seat.
Always planning the next business move, analyzing the last conversation, rehearsing future scenarios.
But when was I actually... here?
What if I'd been time traveling through my own life, missing the only moment that's ever real?
What the Wisdom Reveals
This brings me to the tale of Haru, a monk known for his profound presence.
Whether sweeping floors or making tea, Haru gave each moment his complete attention. One day, lost in the beauty of birdsong and breeze, he accidentally bumped into a fierce warrior in the marketplace.
The warrior exploded with rage. "How dare you insult me! I challenge you to a duel at sunrise!"
Haru, still calm, simply bowed. "If that is your wish, I will meet you at sunrise."
That evening, as Haru sat in meditation, he reflected on the situation.
He'd never held a sword. By all logic, he should be terrified. But sitting there in the stillness, he realized something profound:
Fear only exists when I worry about the future. But if I stay in this moment - right now - there is nothing to fear. Tomorrow doesn't exist. Only this moment does.
At sunrise, Haru arrived at the duel without a weapon, hands resting calmly at his sides.
The warrior sneered. "Have you come to die, monk? Where is your weapon?"
Haru smiled softly. "I do not need one. I am here, in this moment, with no thoughts of winning or losing. I am simply present."
The warrior charged forward, but as he drew close, something stopped him. Haru showed no fear. No tension. No resistance. Just complete presence.
"How can you stand there so calmly, knowing I could kill you?" the warrior asked, lowering his sword.
Haru's response changed everything: "While you are thinking of the outcome, I am only here, now. I am not in the past, nor worried about the future. The present moment is all there is, and in this moment, I am at peace."
The warrior dropped his sword. "You have already won. I came to defeat you with my sword, but you have defeated me with your presence. How can I fight someone who has no fear?"
From that day forward, the warrior sought not battles but presence, finding more strength in peace than in any blade.
The lesson cuts deep: The warrior couldn't fight what wasn't fighting back. He couldn't defeat what wasn't trying to win. He couldn't kill what was already fully alive in the moment.
How I'm Trying to Live Now
What happens when you stop time traveling through your own life?
I've been practicing what I call "presence anchors" - simple ways to pull myself back from mental time travel:
Breath: When I catch myself in tomorrow's meeting, I return to this breath
Body scan: Feeling each part of my body grounds me in the now
Single-tasking: Full attention on one thing at a time
Sounds: Really listening to what's actually here
The results have been profound. A recent meeting with a successful entrepreneur drove it home. His secret wasn't complex strategies or future planning. It was radical presence.
"The less I focus on past or future," he said, "the more I can be here now."
Ram Dass had it right all along - Be Here Now isn't just spiritual advice. It's practical physics. The past is memory. The future is imagination. Only now is real.
Think about your best moments. That first date when time stopped. The business breakthrough when everything clicked. Running with friends as a kid, lost in pure joy.
What made them magical wasn't what happened. It was that you were completely there when it happened.
I've noticed something strange: The more present I become, the more synchronicities appear. Like the universe responds to presence with abundance. When you stop chasing life and start being in it, life starts flowing to you.
You know that feeling when time disappears?
When you're so absorbed that hours feel like minutes.
When thinking stops and being begins.
When you realize you've been looking for life while missing it.
When you understand that presence isn't a practice but your natural state.
That's not losing time. That's finding eternity in a moment.
The warrior discovered what we all must learn: You can't fight the present moment. You can only surrender to it. And in that surrender, you find a power that no sword can match.
My duty now is simple: Combine presence with right action. Be fully here while doing what needs doing. Not escaping to meditation but bringing meditation to everything.
So try this:
Right now, as you read this, notice your breath.
Don't change it. Just notice it.
Feel your body in the chair. The weight of your phone or the mouse in your hand.
For just this moment, stop time traveling.
Ask yourself: "What if this moment is the only one that's ever existed?"
Because Haru knew what the warrior learned:
Tomorrow's battle can't be won. Yesterday's victory can't be relived. But this moment? This moment is already perfect, already complete, already yours.
