Heroes Not Zombies

Here’s where I live now. With a cherry tree just coming into blossom.

The cherry blossom’s transience is a powerful reminder of the impermanence and constantly changing nature of all life.

I like how that dominates this photo.

This is where I live now. It’s not where I lived last year, and maybe it won’t be where I’ll be living next year. But that makes it all the more special for me.

Every day can be approached this way – every day is unique and has never been experienced by us before. Nor will it ever be experienced by us again.

First and last. The idea of living in the present moment.

But it’s difficult to really live in the present moment if that means only being aware of what exists in the here and now. How would we tie our experience of life together if we only had a focus on what was right here now? Well, we do something pretty amazing and unique to weave these moments together – we tell stories.

It’s through story that we experience the present moment not as something separate and detached from the rest of our lives, but as something created by our past experiences and memories, informed by our values and desires, and fashioned by our hopes and expectations.

That’s what story does – weaves the past, the present and the future into a seamless whole.

So, “where I live now” can’t be understood only from one image. It can only be understood as an integral part of the story of “me”.

The story of “me’, with me as the main protagonist, or “hero”, and me as the author, or “creator”. A story which is constantly becoming, continuously emerging, in amazing, and unpredicted ways.

Your story has the same characteristics. But it’s your story. Distinctly yours. Nobody else’s. Weaving your story today out of the threads of the past, the present and the future – that’s how you become the unique and amazing hero and creator that you are.