Feeling the vibrations
Heads up. I’m a big Lenny Kravitz fan and so is my husband.
Last week we went to a Lenny concert in Atlanta and had a blast. The tour is for his new album Raise Vibrations and Atlanta was the first stop. It was our fourth time seeing him play live and he didn’t disappoint as usual.
The majority of the concert-goers were middle age like us. I wore orange disposable ear plugs to protect what hearing is left; you know, those orange ear plugs from Home Depot you buy to protect your ears from using a drill or electric saw. I didn’t care if it looked weird.
Everyone in front of us seemed to have their smartphones out taking pictures and videos of Lenny on stage. At one point, Lenny stopped and asked everyone to put their phones down. “Let’s be in the moment. It’s important that we acknowledge each other and connect.” This made me want to dance even more.
The dancing continued by most when the music re-started and I saw fewer phones out. The lady to my left continued to look at her phone and wasn’t paying attention to the band or Lenny on stage. Since she was so close to me, I could see that she was looking at Facebook and not even trying to take a pic of the venue.
My husband sat down for awhile because he was self-conscious of blocking the view of others behind him (he’s on the tall side). So I sat down for a bit too. Then a woman behind us tapped us on the shoulders. She asked us to stand again and dance because we were good examples of connecting with the crowd.
This made her happy while she drank wine watching everyone dance. We were feeling the vibrations and being in the moment.
Most of us don’t know how to be fully engaged in the present moment. Living in the busy world we are living, constantly having to do something. Running from one place to another and thinking about all the things we need to cross off our to-do list, we miss out on the present moment completely.
We miss out on the innocence of our children and on the love of our friends and family. We miss out on the beauty that surrounds us and we miss out on life. Because life is here and now. Life isn’t in the past or future. Life is in the present moment.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
~John Lennon
There’s plenty advice available about the importance of mindset to include mindfulness. You don’t have to sit still and meditate to be mindful. One of my favorite things to do is to walk in the woods or go for a run outside – and be unplugged (no music or audio books). I make time to do this daily, which allows me to appreciate the surroundings and what we have as a family.
Being mindful of how we interact with what’s around us is connected to our habits and overall health. A lot of blame seems to go toward persuasive tech. (And the art of persuasion is nothing new.) You can check out my post You are Your Habits to learn more.
There’s a lot of value in being in the moment. It just takes a little practice; and if you can start with just 10 minutes out of your day to be mindful, be fully present, your life will change.
