There's Nothing Wrong With Complexity
A big jigsaw puzzle is solved the same way a small one is
Whenever I try to learn about mindfulness, presence, or 'enlightenment,' I keep running into the same message -
"To achieve the mental power to stay present or reach enlightenment it takes many years of meditation and extremely long retreats with all-day practice. In fact, to truly achieve it you must reject the modern world and live like a monk.”
Maybe I’m different, but I just don’t buy it. I want to stay present AND I want all the gifts of modern life. Life IS complex, for our brains at the very least, and I both don’t think there’s anything wrong it and I think it can be combined with presence to create an amazing life.
We have more demands on our attention than ever before; not just from our jobs, families and work pressures but from ever-present chimes about social media, connected devices, and the latest sale. These little reminders of all the things place a significant burden on the brain and indeed make it harder to stay centered and present.
We are all tasked with doing more than ever, all at once. Now that we have an ever-expansive set of knowledge at our fingertips we are expected to know, remember, and do more and more all while staying healthy and relaxed. Some people figure it out and everyone else watches with envy. How?!
Often it’s just a front and they’re not doing it all. Our brains are not that different from each other. But we’re sold the idea it’s all possible and when we’re not happy with all the things or can’t do them all, we’re sold that we should go sit on a mountaintop and find our true selves.
Most of us aren’t going to leave our jobs and lives to hang out with monks and find inner peace. And presence shouldn’t require an escape from life.
In fact…I think the real presence, stillness, enlightenment - the one that actually matters - happens inside complexity. Bringing ourselves into the moment while in the middle of overwhelm or chaos is where modern mindfulness lives.
Complexity is not the enemy of presence. We don’t need to simplify everything before we can see ourselves or show up fully. Life is complex because we care.
We care about our work
We care about the people in our lives
We care about creating and contributing and doing things that matter
I don’t think the complexity we’ve built in our lives is to be escaped from to find ourselves. Complexity is what challenges us. It's what makes us grow. Presence can't be about shutting that out. It’s about embracing it, right now, right as it is. It’s taking all the things we either are or aren’t doing well and increasing our awareness and focus. Intention & attention.
Presence is available in the middle of the mess. In fact, the mess and chaos just might be the doorway to it. Your complexity might not match your capacity for it but the complexity itself is not the problem. The complexity is the stage, the vessel, the puzzle pieces strewn about the table.
This really shifts my perspective on what it means to be present. So often, mindfulness is framed as a retreat from life, but what if it is actually about stepping deeper into it? Instead of running from the noise, maybe we just need to learn how to hear ourselves within it.
This perspective is a game-changer. The idea that mindfulness is not about escaping but about embracing complexity really resonates. Life is full of responsibilities, relationships, and ambitions. Why should we have to strip it all away to find presence? Maybe the real challenge is learning to be fully engaged in the life we already have.