This card is a reminder that we cannot live in the past nor in the future. They are ghost lands. The only place we are alive is in this moment, right now.

The past holds memories both beautiful and painful. We can spend a moment there but then we have to come back to now. Longing for what used to be keeps us as stuck as defining ourselves with our victim stories. We can’t live there anymore.

The future – a place full of hopes and dreams and fears – is just as ephemeral. Keep dreaming, keep taking action towards those dreams, but don’t live there either.

Live here. In this moment.

Be present with your crying child or your dying parent or your excitement, your joy, your hunger. Be with whatever life is handing you. Breathe into it and know that you have the tools to stay in it, to grow through it, to fully experience it.

Let the lessons of the past inform your present. Let the hopes for tomorrow guide today’s choices. But above all else be here, now.

If you find yourself escaping your life on a regular basis, it might be time to dig a little deeper into why. What’s wrong with what you’re experiencing now? What do you want instead? What’s one little baby step you can take today toward that desire? Will you take it?

Here are three simple ways to come back to the present moment if you find yourself checking out.

1. Breathe deeply and engage your five senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you feel against your skin?

2. Doodle, draw, or color in a coloring book. This is a great way to bring yourself into this moment, even if “art” isn’t your thing. Don’t try to figure it out in your head. Instead follow your impulses with no attachment to what the final picture looks like.

3. Do something physical. Dance it out. Shake it off. Do some pushups or a sun salutation. Wiggle your body. Roll around on the floor with your kid or your cat. It doesn’t matter what you do. The point is to get out of your head and into your body.

Once you’ve found yourself back in the present moment and before you re-engage your mind and move on, ask yourself a simple question. Something along the lines of What do I want to do now? or What does my body want right now? or What can I do next that will keep me in this moment? Whatever comes to you is fine.

Repeat the process as necessary. Try to enjoy it. This is it. This is what we have. Now.

Card copyrights belong to their respective authors, artists, and publishers, and are used for example purposes. I encourage you to purchase the deck(s) that speak to you and get to know them on your own.

P.S. Want some help remembering to be here, now? Check this out. So fun.