Truth is a pathless land. Truth is not something to be found. Truth is already present in you, right here, right now, as the Life that is within you.

~ J. Krishnamurti

I’m not very fashionable. I’ll wear anything that’s reasonably clean, and my ideal outfit definitely includes yoga pants. I don’t wear cosmetics or shave or put any “product” in my hair besides shampoo. I have four pairs of shoes and three of them are flip-flops.

I am, however, verbally fashionable. I notice and analyze language, its cadence and connotation, both spoken and written. I notice pop culture jargon and verbal trends that spread like wildfire across the web. For example: Punctuating. Every. Word. For. Emphasis.

But that started a couple of years ago.

More recently, the youth have started in on “because.” Creating intentional fragments by placing a single word after the conjunction, as in captioning a selfie of you and your boyfriend with “It’s date night, because love.”

Have you noticed the latest fad of announcing that something is amazing and should be read/seen/shared using the simple command: “This.”?

It’s all the rage. I personally have never posted “this.” as my status despite the fact that I read “this”-worthy articles almost every day. I guess it feels too silly, like I’m trying to be a hip millennial rather than an aging member of Generation Y. (Hey, at least I’m not a mommy blogger; no offense.)

However, in pondering “this.” and its new usage. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is a fabulous and succinct mantra for daily life practice.

When you’re about to bite into a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. This.

When you’re curling up in bed to reread a favorite book. This.

When you’re cradling a sweet, tired little human or fur babe. This.

When you’re steaming with road rage while sitting in traffic. This.

When you’re pushing back into downward dog pose—and maybe feeling tired or tight or achy. This.

And on and on. Not just the good, happy and share-worthy but also the bad, the ugly, the true.

As William Faulkner advised, “Don’t be ’a writer.’ Be writing.”

In that case, the most important thing is what I’m writing right now. The most important thing is what you’re writing right now. The act of writing, the act of living, the simple, magical act of breathing.

This body contains truth and the essence of goodness. This mind is baffling and beautiful. This life is splendid and sad. This reality is not something to flee or escape by projecting into the future like a bored third grader—what’s next? What about after that?

This is where it’s at. Don’t be a solid, stuck individual, be a flowing, living, loving being.

Pause. Unplug. Experience “this.” Because. This. Is. It.

x

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Editor: Rachel Nussbaum

Photo Credit: David Joyce, Creative Commons