There are moments when we realize we’ve spent days, weeks, or even months living on autopilot. Getting things done, replying to messages, moving from one task to another, doing what we’re supposed to do, but without really feeling present in any of it.
That’s how it started happening to me. It wasn’t that I was doing anything “wrong.” From the outside, everything still seemed to be working. But inside, there was a sense of disconnection, as if I were busy all the time and at the same time far away from myself. I realized I was present for many things, except for my own life.
I think this happens to many of us without even noticing. We get used to the rush, the noise, checking our phones as soon as we wake up, filling our days so completely that there’s no space left to feel what is really happening inside. Little by little, we begin to live by reacting instead of choosing.
For me, beginning to come out of that state had nothing to do with becoming a different person or changing my whole life overnight. It had more to do with learning to pause. To observe. To notice how I was living and from what place I was doing things. Meditation was one of the first doorways into that, not because everything suddenly became clear or easy, but because it forced me to see the noise I was carrying inside. At first, it was uncomfortable. Sitting in silence did not feel mystical or special. It felt like coming face to face with a tired, scattered, overstimulated mind. But I also began to notice something important: underneath all that movement, there was stillness. And when I managed to stay there a little longer, even just for a few minutes, a different kind of clarity began to appear.
Over time, I understood that living with presence does not mean being in perfect calm all the time. It means returning. Coming back again and again to the moment, to the body, to the breath, to what truly matters. Returning when I get lost in the rush. Returning when I start living by inertia. Returning when I drift away from myself.
That practice of returning also changed my relationship with creativity. When I began to make more inner space, the desire to paint, to write, and to observe more closely returned. I realized that many times I do not need to fill my life more, but to empty out some of the noise so I can listen better. Sometimes clarity does not come when we do more, but when we stop pushing so hard.
Living with presence also involves renunciation. Not in the sense of rejecting the world, but of no longer automatically obeying everything that pulls us along. Renouncing a certain speed, a certain saturation, certain forms of pressure that we have normalized. Not to become rigid, but to create space for a truer kind of life.
Today I feel that paying attention is a way of reclaiming life. Not only through formal meditation, but also in small things like cooking slowly, walking without rushing, turning off the phone for a while, sitting down to paint without trying to produce anything, breathing before reacting. They are simple gestures, but they deeply change the way we inhabit the day.
It is not about having everything figured out or always living in an ideal state. It is about no longer moving through life half asleep. About beginning to notice what drains us, what scatters us, what brings us back to center, and what actually makes sense for us. Sometimes change does not begin with a big decision, but with an honest pause.
I’m writing this because I know that many times we feel tired, disconnected, or overwhelmed and do not know exactly why. And sometimes the answer is not to do more, but to stop long enough to listen to ourselves. Maybe living with more presence begins right there, in giving yourself permission to return to the here and now.
If you would rather listen to this reflection in my voice and accompany it with images from my practice, here is the video. I hope it invites you to pause and return, even if only for a few minutes, to the present moment.
In an age of constant distraction, training your attention is no longer optional — it’s an advantage. If you want to develop a clearer, steadier, and more present mind, explore my Meditation Courses.
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