David Erskine joins us again from ten minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, where he has contributed his insights to this blog for over five years.
I continue to “exercise” my mind and spirit by reading Stoicism every day, and recently expanded my practice by writing in Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic Journal. The Journal offers a weekly Stoic reading with an opportunity to to answer a question daily. I don’t read the questions in advance, so they continually surprise and intrigue me. More important, the question helps bring me into the present moment.
In that space, I’ve been contemplating how our willingness to remain in the moment relates to enlightenment or ego, journey or destination, and present or past.
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s important for me to exercise my spiritual journey, much like my daily jogging. Here are a few takeaways from my new practice.
Enlightenment or ego?
This is a choice we can all make. A friend once said to me, “David, your ego is not your amigo!” Reading Eckhart Tolle and Ryan Holiday’s Stoic wisdom, they would both agree. This also ties into being present in every possible way, every day. Try to let the countless thoughts just be only that—thoughts. We control which thoughts to act on. More importantly, we control which ones drag us back to the past, hold onto a wrong or grievance, or worry and fear about the future. All of these can be ego calling us.
Stay present and know this is the way to enlightenment.
Journey or destination?
In 1973-1974, I took a trip from Istanbul to New Delhi with eight other travelers. Two people were from France, two from Australia, two from the U.S., and another from England. We all met in Crete and decided somewhat spontaneously to make the trip. Yes, the destination was India, but it was the journey that changed all of us at that time, perhaps forever.
Getting there required a 90-hour train ride from from Istanbul to Tehran, bus rides through Afghanistan, a taxi through the Khyber Pass, and yet anothr bus to New Delhi. Each part of the journey was an experience in itself that I can visualize to this day. I went to India to find my way forward, so I could return to America with clarity of purpose and spiritual enlightenment. Instead, the journey became a lesson in staying present, living day to day, and each step of the way. Seeing the Taj Mahal in all its magnificence and splendor at one moment, for example, and then from the Taj, witnessing the poverty only a few hundred yards away, put the world into context.
Present or past?
This is yet another important choice we face daily. We may ask: Can I be present and not stuck in the “what ifs” of the past? Can I stop wondering what could have been or what I should have done? As my dad once told me,
“What’s done is done, and I hold it without regard.”
Those words resonate still today, every day.
Recently, I was driving in Sausalito, California, directly across the Bay from San Francisco. From there, you can actually see San Francisco at eye level, which is a unique experience. As I was driving, I saw a rainbow—my second of the day. I’d seen one earlier while riding my bike along the Bay. At that point I wished I had my phone to capture the moment, but I’d left it behind. However, I didn’t regret the missed opportunity or dwell on it.
Ninety minutes later, as I drove my car, I saw another rainbow. I stopped my car, took a photo and shared it with my daughter. She remarked on how special it was. This only happened because I remained in the moment—in the present situation—rather than regretting the past.
David Erskine
World Traveler, Poet, Actor, Taxi-Driver, Author, Tech Sales Director, Dipsea Survivor, and Blogger
If you enjoy David’s blogs, check out his book Fifty Poems, Five Decades and Fifty Thousand Miles, available now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
