In the last few moments of writing this, my mind has been adrift, fixated on something that happened last week and then worrying about whose going to look after the dog for an upcoming trip. I have not been present.

And that’s not for lack of trying. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 10 years or more trying to truly understand presence and to live with a bit more of it. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in yoga studios practicing and teaching; I’ve spent just as much time sat on a meditation cushion; I’ve been on silent retreats; I’ve read a lot of books, and I’ve consumed some pretty potent mushrooms. And yet, here I am, creating stress for myself about a non-existent hypothetical future in which the dog gets abandoned, or the trip gets cancelled. What funny tricks our mind plays on us.

Trust me, Otis will be fine!

So of all the things I’ve written about, this is the most relevant note-to-self. It’s the area in which I (and most of us) are living furthest away from the ideal. And whilst all of the work I’ve put in has definitely had its positive impacts, it’s a reminder that there is still a lifetime’s worth of work to come.

But why bother? You might ask. Well in the words of Sam Harris, the neuroscientist, philosopher and founder of the great meditation app, ‘Waking Up’:

Most of us spend our time seeking happiness and security without acknowledging the underlying purpose of our search. Each of us is looking for a path back to the present. We are trying to find good enough reasons to be satisfied now. Acknowledging that this is the structure of the game we’re playing allows us to play it differently. How we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the character of our experience and, therefore, the quality of our lives.

And Sam’s words are backed up by a lot of different schools of thought - from Taoism to Zen Buddhism. Explore many areas of ‘Eastern’ philosophy, and despite the differences, there is a common thread of agreement about the importance and benefit of living in the present moment.

For many of us, our easiest glimpse of that present moment might come through activities that put us into a flow state. For me that means surfing. For you that might mean playing your favourite sport, knitting, playing a musical instrument, or perhaps a videogame. And whilst there are more technical definitions of Flow - to me, the easiest way to understand it is as the state in which you are truly absorbed in the task at hand in a way that allows your mind to go quiet. You’re probably not in that state for hours or even minutes at a time, but many people have glimpsed a few brief, blissful moments in which it all goes quiet and you truly feel present.

Now imagine those moments permeating the rest of life - more frequently and for longer periods of time - and I believe you start to get to the essence of what people mean when they talk about some of the benefits of meditation and other mindfulness practices. Despite my own consistent meditation practice, it took going on a silent retreat for 10 days for me to really experience my first glimpse behind the curtain of what life might feel like if my brain worked fundamentally differently. I can’t say I’ve maintained that fully back in the real world, but it’s reassuring to know that that state exists and connects my daily practice to something bigger and more transformative.

But don’t worry. You’re not being inducted into a cult here. Nor am I trying to convince you to take up meditation. This is here as a reminder, that in amongst all the talk of growth and change; amongst the striving and the struggle; amongst the planning and the goal setting; amongst the funding and the hiring and the launching and the scaling; that life is happening here and now. That we’re all on that path back to being satisfied now, with life as it is.