Zoom In

Zooming in is one of my favorite mental tools for working through long waits. When it comes to healing, multiple times through multiple surgeries, mastering the art of the wait is essential for mental health. Yours and everyone around you.

Don’t let your reflection on the whole sweep of life crush you. Don’t fill your mind with all the bad things that might still happen. Stay focused on the present situation and ask yourself why it’s so unbearable and can’t be survived.

– MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.36

When we are in pain, we are naturally zoomed in. Our physical world is only as large as what we feel right now. But the mental space is overwhelmingly enormous, time seeming to not move. The task of healing feels Sisyphean when viewed through this lens.

Instead, I choose to zoom in.

Zooming in helps me break my wait down into bite-sized chunks, proving structure and opportunities to make the most of the time.

Zooming in helps me be present. Here. Now. Only.

Zooming in can be a day as a whole, or all the way down to the present minute.

Writing

The writing I’ve been doing every day in this blog has been a daily act of zooming in, working my way through the wait until my next appt. Writing is a part of my morning, time when I am zoomed in on ONLY writing. It gives me focus on something new and interesting each day, removing everything else around me, especially time. I’m all in on writing and the rest of the world falls away. I am present.

Zoomed in Days

I stack my day with moments just like this. Routines that provide structure and opportunities to be present, zoomed in on only that one thing in front of me.

Writing, breakfast with my daughter, mobility work, gym time, therapy time, waffle time, etc. Every part of my day is time blocked and focused, zoomed in, providing anchors for being present.

Not only does zooming in give rise to presence, it also reveals details. Things to take notice of, finesse, tend to, and savor.

Macro Photography

One of my favorite ways to center myself is through photography, particularly macro photography. The whole process of finding and shooting a singular subject up close, literally zooming all the way in, is being present at its peak. It is also a way to see the world in extreme detail, realizing how much we miss every day in our hurried states, pulled this way and that. Macro photography is meditative, full of interest and breath.

It is noticing the vibration of a single string.

The refraction through drops of water.

Funny lips on a flower, one that would have been passed by as a weed.

The texture of air bubbles in ice.

Patience

Finally, zooming in eliminates impatience. When we are fully present, in the moment of whatever we are doing, time ceases to exist. There is no future or past, only right now. Since patience is a construct of waiting for the future, it cannot exist if there is only right now. There is no need to “try to be patient.”

Maintaining this zen-like state 24/7 is basically impossible, but building it into each day, intentionally, definitely adds anchors of stability to my days. This makes the long wait bearable, the details interesting, and I am productively present.

How can you zoom in and find new ways to be present? How would this perspective benefit you?

All images © Carey Martin

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