It's hard to enjoy a life you're absent from. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

I'm an expert at being absent. Today's essay explores what happens when yesterday and tomorrow steal today.

Then: Ryan Nicodemus returns for a podcast episode about our past lives.

But first, big news: the How to Let Go Tour is headed to Seattle, Vancouver, and New York City. I'd love to see you there.

The Art of Being Absent

Joshua Fields Millburn

A wise sage once told me, “Failure to be present is life’s greatest sin.” If the word sin carries too much baggage for you, replace it with problem, danger, or waste.

Whatever we call it, it's clear that a lack of presence costs us pieces of now. I know firsthand. I’ve spent years perfecting the art of being absent, mortgaging today’s joy to pay for yesterday's regrets and tomorrow's anxieties.

I can't taste my food
while I'm scrolling the feed.

I can't feel the sun on my skin
while I'm hiding in yesterday's shadow.

I can't hear my favorite song
while I'm listening to tomorrow’s noise.

It's hard to enjoy a life you're absent from.

Every time we relive the past or fixate on the future, we trade this moment for a hallucination, and we abandon the only place life can ever happen: right here, right now.

Presence isn't something you acquire.
It's what remains when you let go.

–JFM

P.S. Speaking of letting go__, tell me where I should bring the How to Let Go Tour next. Leave a comment on Instagram with your city.

THE MINIMALISTS PODCAST

"Your past explains your fears, but it needn’t author your future."

Read 3 new maxims in the show notes

EPISODE 548 | PAST LIVES

This week, Ryan, T.K., and I talk about embracing minimalism after escaping from abusive families, some of our favorite non-minimalist books, and more. Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or Patreon.