“So why are you here?” she heard him say as his eyes scanned the balcony and floor level of the Hochstein School of Music. The words filled her being, a response was felt in her strongly beating heart, and her mind formed the word — Connection. She sat in a meditative posture and let the stillness steep deeply within.  Her gaze became a blend of colors that melted onto the stage.

He asked the question again a bit more fervently, “Why are you really here?” She heard his voice from a distance, a sound forming syllables of meaning that simply expanded her initial answer —  C o n n e c t i o n.  She continued to sit and let this be, even though her brain wanted to begin defining what this meant to her:  To be united with the energy of the people around me and to receive sustenance from others who share my values…. Fortunately, these words did not surface- just the steadiness of connection that did not care to be defined.

She heard him ask for the third time, “So why are you really, really, really here?” Laughter echoed in the room; it vibrated in her heart as she sat rooted in her seat. Only a single word was pulsing through her — Connection.  Not much else mattered in that present moment, so she took a deep breath and rested in it.

Journal Technique

The entry above is an example of a Captured Moment, a form of descriptive writing that freezes a moment in time.  It can be written as an event is happening or as a memory of something that has already happened.  The writing generally includes sensory detail of an event that is felt intensely and becomes like a snapshot in a photo album.

The morning following the lecture by Jon Kabat Zinn, I sat down to write in my journal and remembered the experience of his opening meditation.  I decided to record it because the memory of being fully immersed in the present moment was fresh and meaningful.  I wrote in third person because I love this technique and also to allow a reader to imagine being in my seat.