Being Present
	by KD Farris, Ph.D.

MISON and the Moment

MISON (MY-SAHN) is the moment.

In the same way that being in MESHE (MEE-SHEE) means waking up to the moment, MISON is the moment.

You can awaken and get reconnected to yourself—MESHE. And you can awaken and be reconnected to the whole—MISON. Neither is better, but both are stones that you will step upon on your path to soulful living.

I spent much of my time the last two weeks, in my home—and mostly in my bed. I was nursing an old injury that had flared up and realized very quickly that, if I was going to heal, I would have to stop everything. A sharp contrast to the "peek performing" weeks of the months prior.

For the exception of a few days of light resistance, I’m proud to report I gave up the fight to stay mobile and productive pretty easily . But I’d be misleading you here if I didn’t say that, at first, it was hard to stop completely and nearly impossible to fully rest.

For the first two days, every time I got still and began to relax, I would remember something that had to get done. Refreshed from these first moments of stillness, I would feel energized and responsive, and up I would go to execute another task. It was amazing to see how many things I had created for myself to do.

A month ago, I purchased a long thick record book with spacious lines and numbered pages for the sole purpose of having a single place to write down everything I’d want or need to get done throughout the year. I have a passion for paper products and I looked long and hard for just the right carrier of my year-long lists of things to do.

When I came to the realization that I really was going to have to slow down, and for a little while at least, come to a complete stop, I took out that beautiful green book of mine and committed to writing in it all that my mind kept reminding me to do, until I had no more impulses to move or accomplish anything.

The ink rolled out like water over a steep ledge as I began recording all the tasks that I was not going to take care of for awhile.

Re-key door. Replace blue bulb. Call printer. Update press materials. Schedule AV meeting. Reread postscript. Order book set. Follow up with WLT. Find Sandy’s address. Make new files. Etcetera. etcetera, etcetera.

I started early in the morning and wherever I could get comfortable in my home, I brought a pen and the long green record book with me. It was late into the night before it happened, but eventually, after a full day of recording, there was nothing else to write down.

The shift in my physical body was noticeable, when for the first time since my injury flared up, I actually found rest.

I woke up the next morning after a full night of sleep. I realized, I had not slept a full night in many weeks. I turned off the phone lines the night before and relished waking from my own body clock. After waking, I went back to sleep for another few hours. When I woke again, I did nothing. No thinking. Nothing. I just lay there.

Emotions came and went and I let them all pass through. Soon, the desire for food brought me to the kitchen. A desire to eat what I prepared, brought me to the table. And the desire to leave the house clean returned me to the kitchen, plates in hand. And the day seemed to move like this—effortlessly and from something within me.

After bathing and putting on my favorite monkey pajamas, I went to the living room and sat on the couch. In my home, the couch is like a window seat to the garden. A small waterfall attracts turtle doves, and the bougainvillea attracts hummingbirds. Jasmine is in full bloom, and potted pansies wave lightly when the breezes blow by.

I took it all in.

And then... the site of my feet propped up on the ottoman brought as much serenity and stillness as the garden did....

It was MISON.

I was in MISON, and I knew exactly why my back was hurting, my body restricted, my calendar had had to be cleared....

MISON means waking up to the big picture of everything going on in your life and realizing that where you are holds an energy of grace and healing, from which you can nourish your soul without comment, judgment or concern. It is a gift from the moment that brings with it a place card telling you where to sit at the banquet. It says, you go sit over there, and don’t worry, it is the perfect place for you to be.

ORBIT (OR-BIT) is the pattern that stands between ourselves and the moment. It can be an endless cycle of stuff sent to consume and limit us, while creating ever active happening. ORBIT is the opposite of rest. Its nature is constant movement.

My life was full and productive leading up to my injury relapse, but it was also out of balance. It had no pauses, only activity.

I invite you to insert your own pauses into your life this month. Don’t wait for a physical injury, accident or illness to stop and regain your balance. And don’t think you need to spend two weeks there like I had to, either.

Pick a day. Or a few hours from a day. Maybe go away for a weekend. Say, "No," to the impulse to be distracted from the moment. Write down everything your mind is telling you to do. Everything it is telling you is bad for you. Everything it is wanting to have changed. Write it all down until you have nothing else to write, and then stop. Sit. Take it in. See what happens. And report back. All of you. Any of you. Share your stories. How hard it was, but how you kept it up. How easy it was and how you are hooked now! How odd it was. How like childhood. Like art. Like nature.

After that, once you have a new way of looking at your day, add in little things that will bring you to this place. Add in more music to take away your thoughts. More movement, to quiet the mind. More nature to be dwarfed by. More stillness—if only moments.

Remember, MISON is found in a single moment, and it only takes a handful of moments to change the quality of your life.

© Copyright 2001 KD Farris, Ph.D..

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