Be Here Now, Ram Dass’ anthem of mindfulness caught my attention in an unusually difficult week. When going through hard things, staying in the now can feel like an admonishment rather than an invitation.

Disconnecting from the present can feel relatively harmless especially when the distractions are benign.

It all started last week with an instagram post about capybara. I was having a frustrating day which lifted momentarily with scenes of giant water rodents.

The first minute was cute and cuddly. But before I knew it, I had sunk way more time than I had intended into a full scale investigation of this creature.

In the guise of whimsy, I made the choice to entertain and distract rather than feel and deal.

Now, not only was I sad, but I was also terribly behind.

And then I thought: Why continue to suffer and spiral when a slight of hand and a shift in perspective could smooth and save? Now is basically whenever we say it is, and we can show up to it when we’re able.

I decided to Be Here Later which turned out to be right before bed. I finally had space to be present with myself and regain the ground that led me to earlier distraction. In that instance, being present wasn’t a pick-me-up. It meant that at a tough time, I didn’t abandon myself.

Distraction can be a way of sidestepping what’s really important, which prolongs the underlying suffering. Committing to reconnection in the future opens up possibilities in the next version of now. And sometimes that’s the best we can do.

Time is fairly irrelevant when it comes to the self anyways. We can focus on the now, hold space for later, or softly and with a lot of compassion Be Here Together.