Description:

“I’m Here” explores what it means to arrive fully in the present after years of living at high tempo. In this episode of Mindful at Sea Level, host Bob A — military veteran and mindfulness educator — reflects on the shift from restless mental motion to disciplined presence.

Drawing from his poem “I’m Here,” written days after a life-threatening illness and surgery, Bob A traces the moment he found a quiet refuge inside a mind once crowded with noise. He describes clarity as a subtle tapping that had always been there, waiting to be noticed. Through morning sounds, fresh air, and the simple rhythm of a new day, he reconnects with the sensory world and the steady truth beneath it.

The episode centers on one radical realization: what’s different now is that he’s truly here — not rehearsing the future, not revisiting the past, but standing in the living moment with intention and integrity.

Artwork: Mindfulnauts by Gemini AI

Music: I’m mindful at sea level (Instrumental) by Suno AI

Poem: I’m Here by Bob A, Mindful at sea level podcast

I’m Here

Free verse

Being alone with my thoughts,

finding safe haven from the storm,

in a mind once cluttered

with unimportant things.

Clarity rises,

a quiet tapping at the soul,

reminding me it has always been here — waiting for a single, living moment.

Morning arrives.

Fresh air on my skin.

Birds chirping over the hum of tires,

rolling along the nearby highway.

I take the time to soak it in,

to take all of it in,

Deeply observing.

Breath by breath,

note by note,

moment by moment.

Listening to music,

hearing each word,

feeling each note.

Now becoming the dancer.

What’s different this time,

I’m here.

Morse Code:

MASL...WELCOME HOME

STAY STRONG...MASL

Dedication:

This podcast is dedicated to the Jack Russell Nation — and to Ike, the brave little Mindfulnaut who ran ahead of every tide. His spirit still charts our course, and we miss him deeply.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there.” -Rumi