いる
iru
いる: still there, still breathing
The picture Something alive staying put where it is — and by extension, a state that stays put. いる is something alive staying in a place; ある is something that can't move, resting in a place.
Where the picture shows up in いる
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a person is right there
今、駅にいます。
ima, eki ni imasu
I'm at the station right now.
You standing in one spot by the ticket gate, holding that spot
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nobody is staying there
受付に誰もいません。
uketsuke ni dare mo imasen
There's nobody at the reception desk.
An empty chair at the reception desk with nobody holding that spot
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in the middle of doing it
今、ご飯を食べています。
ima, gohan o tabete imasu
I'm eating right now.
A hand with chopsticks still moving above the rice bowl
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still there after years
もう三年、この会社にいます。
mō sannen, kono kaisha ni imasu
I've been at this company three years now.
The same desk in the same office, your seat still yours three years on
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left in that state
窓が開いています。
mado ga aite imasu
The window is open.
A window someone opened, still resting at exactly that angle
開きます is the moment it opens; 開いています is the state it stays in.
All of it in one picture
いる is the picture of something alive staying put, right now, in that spot. You are staying by the ticket gate; nobody is staying at the reception desk; the hand with chopsticks is still inside the act of eating; your seat at the same desk has stayed yours three years running; the window stays at the angle someone left it. Only what stays changes — a person, an action, a stretch of years, a state. So ている says less 'this happens' than 'this is still standing that way'.