03/11/2025
As we prepare to welcome participants to Returning Home, our annual meditation retreat with Dónal Creedon (11 November – 4 December), we thought we’d share this beautiful poem Dónal wrote in December 2018 — a gentle reminder of the simple power of being present.
On Being Present
What does it mean?
To be present to oneself.
To be present,
To the skies and the hills,
And sunlight and shadow,
To bundles of clouds
And turbulent waters
To birds flying by
And the billowing grasses,
To the girl with the child
And the dogs rushing by
To a smile and a frown
And the wind in your hair
To your voice as you speak
And your breath come and go
To your heart drumming softly
And your thoughts as they surge
To your fear as it grabs you
To sitting in stillness
And silence and sound
To stillness in movement
And movement in stillness.
What does it mean to be present?
Now. Now. Now.
TRC December 28, 2018
