The Power of Presence: Placing One Stone at a Time
When I was 10, I often felt what others might call butterflies in the stomach. But in reflection, it wasn’t excitement. It was something else - more like a quiet turmoil.
It was my body processing what I couldn't yet name.
And when I swallowed down both the noise of the outside world and my own inner knowing, those butterflies twisted into something more painful - like aching pangs of misalignment.
Without guidance on how to listen, I did what many of us do. I found ways to numb.
Food. Relationships. Exercise. Alcohol.
I became a chameleon, shaping myself to the needs and energies around me, becoming more a shadow than a sovereign being. It felt easier that way. Safer.
But the inner teacher never leaves.
So how do we learn to listen to that voice again?
How do we trust our inner knowing when we can’t always see where it’s leading us?
And how do we learn to live fully in our bodies, after so long spent escaping them?
We begin by returning to presence.
Picture yourself crossing a stream.
There’s no map.
Just the water flowing, the moment you’re in, and the next stone to place.
That next stone isn’t chosen through planning or panic - it’s sensed. Felt. Trusted.
That’s how life moves too.
But often, we’re so entangled in the past or trying to control the future that we miss the only true moment we have - this one. And in doing so, we lose touch with the wisdom that can only speak through presence.
So what’s the answer?
There isn’t just one. We are each unique, and so is the path home to ourselves.
But we can start by becoming curious:
What does peace feel like in your body when you sit in stillness?
What do you notice when a bird sings, or the wind stirs the branches?
How does your heart respond to the smell of a flower or the simple joy of a dog’s kiss?
These small moments - unattached to lack, need, or urgency - hold the keys.
They teach us how to be here.
They help us listen again.
We don’t shift from disconnection to deep inner knowing all at once.
Even when it seems like an overnight change, it's not.
There are layers. And we are layers - softly, slowly unfolding.
So speak to the wind. The sun. The stones and stars.
Listen to the trees. Let the birds sing to your soul.
Be present with life - it truly is magical when we let it be.
Give yourself the gift of this moment.
Not to fix anything - but to remember yourself within it.
May you walk with love.
And may you discover the magic that’s always been waiting in the now.
With love,
Susan