Lost in Glass -- Presence in Creation

Last week I started a class in stained glass. I signed up for the class for a few reasons. I was feeling the need to expand my creative outlet.  I wanted exposure to new people.  I am interested in a stained glass screen for our over-sized (I mean seriously over-sized) fireplace and was wondering if I could make it myself.  What I got was presence – I was literally lost in glass.

Over the years the best description I ever have come upon for the experience of presence is being lost in doing (or being, of course).  When I think back to experiences when I have been totally (and seemingly effortlessly) present, it has been in the doing of some creative process.  I could tell an outwardly horrifying tale of a time when I melted down all the drywall in a hallway with a wallpaper steamer.  In the moment, the looming disaster never bothered me.  I simply stayed in creative motion by refinishing and then painting the wall.  I never fretted about the outcome.  I never noticed the time.  I was crazy into the doing – and totally present.  I celebrate the memory. 

And there are other presence experiences I recall: writing speeches all night, designing new fitness programs, making drapes . . . in each case I have tapped into my creative self . . . and in each case the common experience is losing track of time.  I become so absorbed in doing that natural curiosity overtakes self judgment.  I am curious in the process and less interested in the outcome.  When I finally do notice the time, it likely is later than I expect.  What joy pure presence releases.   And that joy hangs around like a healthy echo once the doing is done.

I know people who labor toward presence like it is some elusive, mythical creature.  The harder they look, the more perplexed they become in the not finding.  My best advice: instead of pursuing presence, try recalling it.  When in your life have you become so involved in an experience that you lost track of time?  Knowing that presence experience may help you to recreate it at times when you seek grounding and peace. 

When I meditate this week, I’m going to grind glass (in my mind's eye).  I’m going to see the color, feel the vibration of the grinding wheel, enjoy the gentle rhythm of the arc of glass smoothing to fit snuggly into my design.  I am going to celebrate presence in the joy of creating.  And I just know . . . I'm going to lose track of time.

Thought for the day:  “If you are in a state of intense presence you are free of thought, yet 
highly alert. If your conscious attention sinks below a certain level, thought rushes in, the mental noise returns, stillness is lost, you're back in time.”  ~ Eckhart Tolle