Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed something interesting.
The word presence seems to be everywhere.
I hear it in conversations. I see it in advertising copy. I read it in books and newsletters. Heart-centered communities are speaking about it. Business leaders are even mentioning about it.
It’s as though a word that once belonged mostly to contemplative circles is unabashedly making its way into everyday awareness.
Presence is becoming mainstream.
When The Collective delivered this month’s transmission, Holding Presence, it felt perfectly timed.
But afterward, I found myself asking a more personal question:
What does presence actually mean to me?
The answer continues to unfold.
For years, I thought presence was about stillness or mindfulness. A practice of paying attention to the moment. While those are certainly part of it, I’ve come to realize that presence asks much more of me.
Presence is becoming willing to stand fully inside who I am.
Claiming Space
That sounds simple until you begin living it.
For me, it has meant coming to terms with my capacity—not only as a human being but also as a spiritual and mystical one. It has meant accepting that my life has unfolded in ways I never could have predicted and that my purpose continues to reveal itself as I move through it.
Presence feels expansive. And it takes practice.
There are moments when I sense a depth of power and connection that is difficult to describe. Not power over anything or anyone, but an inner cohesiveness. A roundedness. A feeling that all the scattered pieces of myself are learning to work together.
It is also an invitation to claim space.
To use my voice.
To stop apologizing for the way I experience the world…or myself in it.
That doesn’t mean certainty replaces vulnerability.
Quite the opposite.
Every meaningful threshold in my life has asked me to trust before I was ready.
Sharing publicly about channeling. Speaking about Merlin energy or dragon energy. Describing my first past-life experience. Even getting sober thirty-six years ago and eventually talking openly about the shame, guilt, and self-loathing I once carried.
Each step felt—and feels—like another form of coming out.
Each one asked the same question:
Will you trust yourself enough to let more of yourself be seen?
Becoming a Midlife Alchemist
And lately, another realization has been surfacing.
I see myself as a Midlife Alchemist.
Because I’ve arrived somewhere extraordinary, and only through transformative inner work. Taking wounds and allowing them to become wisdom. Turning old shadows into unexpected strengths. Refining beliefs that no longer fit. Dismissing those old stories. Discovering where I belong as the path opens beneath my feet instead of waiting until I can see the entire road.
It’s an ongoing process of re(fire)ment as much as refinement.
Perhaps that is presence too.
Not perfection.
Participation.
There is another quality I’ve noticed that is harder to explain.
Despite the intensity of the world, despite uncertainty or physical fatigue or moments where I question my own worthiness, there is often a perceived steadiness underneath it all.
I think of an ancient tree. Storms bend its branches but cannot uproot it because its roots disappear deep into the earth where unseen strength lives.
That is increasingly how presence feels to me.
Not a shield against emotion or difficulty.
Not bypassing betrayal or fear.
But a stable center that remains accessible regardless of the weather.
From that place, I find myself more interested in exploring a deeper mysticism and even more interested in embodying it. Less interested in having all the answers and more interested in allowing life to reveal itself as I stay awake to it.
That discernment even found its way into a short video I shared yesterday from Carkeek Park called “Stop Releasing. Start Dismissing.” Sometimes the most powerful spiritual movement isn’t trying to force something out of our lives. Sometimes it’s simply recognizing that an old story, fear, or belief no longer deserves our attention and allowing it to truly leave your field.
Follow the Energy
And sometimes that means following the energy.
It has led me to Glastonbury. To forests and towns. To Paris many times.
And perhaps someday to Egypt or Scotland.
I no longer feel compelled to explain every invitation. I simply try to notice where my higher self is asking me to pay attention.
Maybe that’s another way of describing presence.
Just listening.
As June unfolds its power, I wonder if presence is becoming mainstream because humanity is being invited into a deeper relationship with itself.
A deliberate one.
A truer one.
Maybe it’s about allowing the person you’ve always wanted to become to finally step into the light.
In joy and unity, always.
Mark of the Soul LLC | All Rights Reserved | markofthesoul.com
Previous articles:
What the Threshold Revealed
Gentle reminder: There’s still time to watch—or listen to—STAY THE COURSE, The Collective’s May Transmission. The June Transmission arrives next weekend.
So well times. So beautifully said. Thank-you.
Thank you, today I needed to read this as a reminder and from a person I have met in their physical body. The energy via all digital is great, sometimes having met the physical embodiment of person helps ground experience.