The people I’m with are here. Part of me is somewhere else.

The people I’m with are here.

Part of me is somewhere else.

The conversation is happening.

The evening is happening.

The moment is happening.

Yet part of me is somewhere else.

I replay something from earlier.

I think about tomorrow.

I remember a conversation.

I revisit a decision.

The people in front of me are real.

The thoughts pulling me away are not.

The strange thing is that nobody notices.

I answer.

I listen.

I nod.

I participate.

Physically, I’m here.

Mentally, I’m divided.

Not because I don’t care.

Not because I don’t want to be present.

Because part of me is still carrying something from somewhere else.

The people I’m with are here.

The opportunity to connect is here.

The moment is here.

Yet part of me keeps leaving it.

The cost is subtle.

The evening happens.

The conversation happens.

The memory doesn’t.

Because I was only partly there for it.

Sometimes the first step isn’t becoming more present.

It’s noticing where part of me keeps going instead.

The people I’m with are here.

I don’t need to be somewhere else right now.