on being present

 

Humans are not omnipresent, but learning how to be in two or three places at the same time is an essential part of being human. Today has been my weekly day away from work, and I have spent much of the day in Québec with Armand Gamache. Because I did not leave my reading chair, I was able to take an-hour-and-a-quarter out earlier this evening to go for a run with a few more-local friends.

Theologically, a Christian is in at least two places at once: wherever they happen to be on earth, and seated with Christ in the heavenly places. But we also occupy more than one place, simultaneously, when we recall the past — our own; or some other period of history, such as reading the Gospels — or call to mind friends who are physically distant. Those who live with dementia are present in two (or more) places at the same time, and while this is undoubtedly draining for those around them, it should not be seen in an entirely negative light. They are being human, not losing their human nature and identity. They are, arguably, showing us something crucial to being human that we have forgotten or failed to recognise.

Fiction helps us develop the skills of bi-presence, or multiple presence. The problem with social media is not so much that we are not fully present where we are, physically — in this sense, it is no different to being ‘lost’ (or, found) in a good book — but that we are never present anywhere long enough. It is like being on a bus: no sooner have you noted where you are, than you have moved on again. There is a place for bus journeys, and for scrolling Facebook, but at some point it is time to step off again. To take note.

As someone who, for neurodivergent reasons, struggles with processing sensory information such as sound, bi-present noticing can be tricky. If I am reading something and someone speaks to me, I won't hear what they are saying, to begin with. This isn't rudeness on my part (or on theirs, for gatecrashing) but neither is it a problem with being in two places at once: it is simply a feature of this human reality, and demonstrates why we need to practice these skills. And though today is my weekly day away from work, it is part of my work to help people live well in two or more spaces simultaneously, as an essential part of being fully human.

And with that, I am heading back to Québec/my vicarage in northeast England.