Go Peel an Orange

It seems like every conversation I have lately focuses on the past or the future – and a general frustration with being unable to stay fully submerged in the moment…

I read somewhere that a technique for people who worry obsessively is "to peel an orange" when they feel themselves falling into a "worry cycle". The idea is that the sensation of digging your nails into the flesh of an orange combined with the immediate release of a citrusy scent plunges you into the moment – tuning all your attention into the source of those sensations

I wonder if this theory could be expanded to social interactions of 20 somethings. These are at their best exciting and fun, but at their worst are desperate or destructive. These actions include sexual encounters without intimacy and drinking too much too often - but also the not wanting to move away from a conversation that does grab us or the trying to recreate moments of spontaneous and unexpected connection, or even the wanting to try new and crazy things, in the hopes that something about it will grab us and pull us in.

Are these all just alternate versions of trying to sink our nails into something solid; will we do just about anything to be totally submerged in the now?

I'm beginning to think more often than not.