Your Presence

Your presence is enough.

I experienced this sentiment first-hand numerous times in the past week.

One was whilst in a zoom room with 100+ strangers - fellow writers who I’ve yet to meet - as we silently wrote alongside each other. Sharing a space, and crowdsourcing motivation and inspiration, it occurred to me that each person’s presence in that room was enough to help me with my own work.

Another was as I logged on to the Great Aussie Bird Count app for the fourth time in a day and saw the map of my local area covered with bird symbols, recognising my fellow citizen-scientists who were also counting and logging their bird sightings. Knowing that I am one of thousands taking part in this important exercise is enough.

We often talk about the importance of ‘the company that we keep’ and yes, it is important. This concept extends beyond the people who we know, to those whose presence is enough.

It makes me wonder where else I might be unknowingly playing that role in someone’s life.

Strangers helping strangers, simply through our presence has got to be a true marker of being human. I’m curious, have you ever considered the places where your presence is enough?