Hear Now: Be Where When?

Every breath is miraculous. Every heartbeat, every synapse. Every millisecond of our existence is a miracle. Many of us struggle with regrets of the past, or worries about the future. For one reason or another we often struggle to just be here now and rejoice in the moment. Each of us, in our own way, to varying degrees, understands and appreciates the miracle of our existence. So why is it that so many of us turn to alcohol and other things to alter our perception of this life and our place in it, in spite of the fact that we already know that every moment is a miracle just as it is?

Everyday, indeed every minute of every hour of every day, is an opportunity to either move closer to this mindset with something like meditation, or turn and run from this mindset with something like alcohol or other perception altering substances that only delay one's true grasp of reality and perhaps make it even more difficult to accept in the waking hours.

It's not for me to decide which choice is the wise one for anyone other than myself. Some of history's greatest thinkers have found ways to utilize mind-altering substances like a sacrament to spark and prolong a creative mindset. But it's a slippery slope of course. And a path best not taken by some. Others have attempted and failed to navigate a similar trajectory only to lose everything.

I myself am partial to a drink or a puff or several of both. All I can say for sure is that the benefits of this behavior that I enjoyed in my younger days are not what you would call identical to the effect that this sort of thing has on me today.

I celebrate and honor the long overdue research that medical science is now investing in the therapeutic qualities of marijuana, psilocybin, and LSD.

Though once used recreationally by myself and countless others, these things have the power to save lives if carefully administered. Especially for sufferers of lifelong addiction, anxiety, and chronic depression.

But more and more lately I keep coming back to this realization as it echoes in my mind: I can hear birds chirping outside my window. So why do I so often feel as though a drink or a puff or a vape or a tablet or some such thing is required to create an artificial amplification of my perception of this God-given miracle and the countless others within the grasp of my five senses 24/7/365?