I’ve always had a deep sense that presence and creativity are not really luxuries, but an essential part of life. This inner knowing has been confirmed by a great book I’m reading, called, “Deep Survival.” It contains many well- documented tales of survival-in the wilderness, at sea, in prisoner of war camps, and in the twin towers of 9/11.

It turns out that the people who survive are not necessarily the well- trained, experienced ones. The survivors are the ones who are able to deal with the reality right in front of them in a creative, flexible way. The ones who die are holding on to a map inside their minds. They have an idea of what is happening, and the idea stands between them and the truth of what is actually going on. They cannot meet the moment, the situation as it is, and respond to it.

So the more we live life according to our maps, our ideas, the less we are able to be present to our immediate, direct experience. And the more we can respond creatively, flexibly, to the demands of the moment, the more likely it is that we will walk out of the situation alive.

The state of presence, and our capacity to live creatively are essential survival skills. And they are not something we can just pull out of the bag, next time we get into trouble.

It was clear, reading ‘Deep Survival,’ that survivors carry these resources deep in their being. Their ability to be truly present, to let go of their mind maps, was a direct result of the way they had lived their lives. The ones who fought with reality, complained, resisted and denied what was going on, simply did not live to tell the story.