The year is turning once again. Seems like a good time to talk about past, NOW, and future. And why it’s all kind of bullshit.
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The spiritual obsession with NOW
When I spend time in spiritual circles, I always hear talk about being present in the “now.”
“The NOW is all we have.”
“The past and future are only in your mind, so be here NOW.”
“If you get lost in the past, future, or fantasies, you’re not being present, which means you’re frittering away your NOW, which means you’re missing your life.”
UGGHH THE PRESSSUURRRE!
First of all, yes, okay. There’s something to this. The power of NOW is undeniable. But it’s also bullshit. Or at least, it’s misunderstood by a lot of people.
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Why NOW is useful wisdom
There’s something to it because it’s true that the past and future only exist in your mind. And all those daydreams and fantasies that your mind spins out are likewise nothing more than brainchildren.
There’s a huge amount of healing and peace to be found in practicing mindfulness. Simply learning to become more present—here and NOW—and aware of your inner and external environment can help you find serenity.
Here and now, there is balance. Here and now, you have free will to make choices (although the things you’re choosing are often not present here and now, so you’re dealing with abstracts there). Now is the moment on which everything else in your life hinges, and yet it’s the most stable, unshakeable thing in the universe. It can’t be taken away.
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NOW is also the only thing you lose when you die.
Think about it. Your past and your future are thoughts. All the relationships in your life are experiences that live in your mind. All the possessions you’ve accumulated also give you experiences that live in your mind.
This has been true of every person who has ever lived, regardless of when they lived, what they accomplished, or how long their life was.
When they die, every single person has only one thing to lose: NOW.
When you die, you will lose exactly the same thing that a 100-year-old woman does. The same thing that Marcus Aurelius lost when he finally kicked the bucket. The same thing that I’ll lose.
Everything else was only ever a dream.
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“Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. The span we live is small—small as the corner of the earth in which we live it. Small as even the greatest renown, passed from mouth to mouth by short-lived stick figures, ignorant alike of themselves and those long dead.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
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Why NOW is bullshit
So, yeah. I do like a lot of the concept of NOW.
What people get wrong is thinking that the past, future, and fantasies hold no value. The attempt to let go of these things entirely because they take you out of the NOW.
But that’s impossible.
NOTHING can take you out of the NOW. NOTHING. When you contemplate the past and future, those thoughts exist for you NOW.
It’s irritating and shortsighted when people claim that the only way to peace is to pay ultra-close attention to your immediate physical environment. Yes, it offers power and beauty, but who wants to go through their entire life just noticing the beauty of their physical environment? What a shallow way to live.
The things that bring life meaning are all experiences that take place in the mind. Dreams of the past and future, the joys of relationships, the fervor of hope, the adventures of storytelling, and the clarity and wisdom that comes with deep thought and learning.
The good news is, they’re all here and NOW.
Go ahead and get lost in them, secure in the knowledge that this present moment will always hold you secure.
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Love,
L.