Searching

Photo by Brian Ferry.

I am surfing the net on a Wednesday evening, slurping an avocado bubble tea. I'm thinking about how so much of our online experience is shaped by immediacy: we want the world at our fingertips, ready to be grasped. We want to be able to find things quickly.

I'll admit, some of my favorite sites lately are ones where I can customize a search based on my needs. If I'm looking for a good recipe based on the ingredients in my cupboards (or better yet, based on the ones I'm craving,) I go for Gojee. (How else am I going to discover pumpkin cupcakes with chai cream cheese frosting?!)

 

Photo by Brian Ferry.  

Photo via Food 52.

Recently I discovered Betterfly, a site where you can search your area for private yoga instructors (and/or post for free).

Photo via FYeahYoga.

And then there's always Etsy, my favorite yoga Tumblr sites, and StumbleUpon. One's ability to bounce around on the Internet is endless. Pinning pictures, reading blog posts, updating Facebook and Twitter, milling about on Wikipedia and Google, bookmarking, commenting, opening new tab after new tab!


In a way, all this searching has us confused. We begin to wonder who we are, and draw lines around our digital identities. Is this where I'm meant to be? Where will I go? Who can I connect with? Who knows me?


But for all our searching, we are still ourselves.


Be still, within yourself. Practice presence.


You cannot be someone else. As you come to accept who you truly are, you can be alive, content. 


For all your searching, you can still allow stillness. Let emptiness be there. 

Photo by Brian Ferry.