circle of now

sometimes when I’m not sure what to do with myself, I draw a circle of now, and then I write down one thing in the center. and then for the next ten, twenty, thirty minutes, I pretend that there is nothing else that exists in this world except what’s inside my circle of now. and the circle of now has room only for one thing at a time. since the time point which is “now” is always in flux and flickering like a flame — the contents of this circle are ever evolving and changing — with a pace that makes it feel entirely fluid. that is the point of this exercise. what would it be like to be so entirely present in the circle of now, no matter if you’re writing an email or listening to bach or chopping a green onion? the next level-up of this game would be to draw a circle of now not on paper, but in the spaces of my mind, and allow everything that is not in this circle to dissolve, to fall away, so that what is inside this circle can become saturated with the light of my attention, come so alive that it feels like everything is pulsing with life. one moment at a time.