Right Here, Right Now
(By Joe Nichols and Richard Walter)
Now, let’s talk about breath, not in the metaphysical sense, not as some elusive portal to transcendence, but as the most democratic, the most immediate tool you possess. You can use it anytime. Anywhere. Free of charge. No subscription required.
There are so many moments in a day to find what I call micro-Zen.
Tiny check-ins. Gentle recalibrations. Little rebellions against the tyranny of constant doing.
I often think back to my days studying economics, learning to observe both the macro and the micro. Markets swell. Markets crash. Supply meets demand or doesn’t. But the most important takeaway had nothing to do with capital or currency. It was this: energy, like money, is never just spent. It’s invested. Or it leaks.
So I ask myself each day: Where did my energy go? Who or what did I give it to? Was that an investment in my well-being? Or did I just fund a bottomless pit of distraction?
A single phone call. An unexpected email. A sharp word from someone rushing past. Any one of these can knock you sideways. Your shoulders tense. Your mind spirals. You find yourself re-living a moment that took less than fifteen seconds but hijacks your peace for hours.
This is where micro-Zen comes in. Not as some guru-level enlightenment. But as maintenance. Mental hygiene. Muscle memory.
A breath. One breath. That’s the beginning.
A glance up at the sky, that massive dome of indifferent blue that doesn’t care what you failed at today.
A pause before you fire off a reply.
These things are small. But so is the crack that brings down the dam.
Let micro-Zen be the calibrator. A way to reset before you wreck yourself. A way to remember that you are not the comment. You are not the invoice. You are not the mistake you made this morning.
You are a living system. Sensitive. Resilient. Wired for regulation, not just reaction.
Some days, hell is just the inbox. Or the stretch of 3pm to 5:30. Or that look someone gave you at lunch. But even in that hell, you get to choose your gait. You can stomp or you can saunter. You can cry, or you can laugh at the absurdity of it all. Both are valid. Neither makes you weak.
What matters is that you keep walking.
Don’t let your band snap.
Pause. Breathe. Realign.
The day is still yours.
You don’t have to be perfect to be powerful. You just have to be present.
And presence, real presence, that gritty, unpretending kind, is what allows us to reclaim what the world tries every day to steal.
You don’t have to win every battle. But you do have to show up for yourself.
That is the only way out. And the only way forward.
Release the tension and join us at https://iamday.org/
Joe Nichols is the irreverent reverend behind Beautiful Heresy on Substack, where he writes with heart, wit, and just enough troublemaking to keep things interesting. He pokes at the edges of belief, beauty, and what it means to be human—with a laugh, a question, and the occasional holy contradiction.
Richard Walter is the voice behind Through the Doldrums of Midlife and I AM Awake on Substack. He writes from the heart of transformation, blending midlife musings with spiritual wake-up calls and the quiet wisdom of lived experience. He’s also the founder of IAMday.org, a global invitation to remember who we are—together.
They met somewhere between a poem and a cosmic nudge, and this post is what happens when a beautiful heretic and a midlife mystic sit down to write.
