In a recent post I described Joyce as a planner and said that I tend to go with the flow and then I described my day. I now confess to being a planner, too, at times. And I know that Joyce goes with the flow at times. In this post I praise both planning and going with the flow.
“Now” is “this moment in time.” So now I can tell you that I am in my apartment seated in front of my computer, munching salted pecans, and working on a post for my blog. But, my now will soon be the subject of a second definition which is “the moment immediately past”. “Now” is difficult to pin, because it so easily and quickly slips out of the now moment into a just past moment. Or it may slip into the future, as in “do it now”, meaning do it in the next moment or next opportunity.
“Then” can be tricky too. It can be “then and now” or “now and then”. The book of one’s life is held together by these two “then” bookends. One bookend is the first breath celebrated every birthday. The other bookend is the last breath mourned as death.
These two bookends that bind our lives hold many memories, innumerable moments, and much potential. The remainder of this post is my attempt to challenge us to make the most of the potential of the present moment.
- In this moment we may wish for what we do not have.
- In this moment we may believe that our wishes may be granted.
- In this moment we may imagine that what we wish for can be realized.
- In this moment we may act as though our imaginations were real.
- In this moment we may take a leap of faith.
My daughter has informed the family that she and her husband have just taken a leap of faith (her words) by signing certain papers. “Awesome” was the family response, for in that moment we were filled with admiration and respect for them. Their leap implies courage, willingness to risk and engage in moments of future negotiation, more planning, and work, and sometimes go with the flow
It is ok to wish, believe, imagine, plan and risk, or to wait and ponder in the now moments that face us. We elders say that we hope to live as long as we live. Then will come the moment beyond which we cannot know; we will go with an unknown flow . . .
Now is an action
that becomes mere memory
shrouded by unknowns.
Martin, I have come to realize that the reason I resonate so much with all of your writings is that you write about things which are the same things I think of since I hit that ripe old age of eighty years. You give me good ideas and things to think about and to work on in order to not just sit around and do nothing. I thank you for all the work you put into keeping us informed about you and your thoughts and life in general as we age. you are my inspiration!
Martin, this discussion of “NOW” is really perceptive. I think it is one of the deepest mysteries of life, how one NOW becomes a Then, and some possible Tomorrow emerges to become the new NOW. Two things particularly fascinate me …
1) How quickly most of our NOWs start to vanish, being only memories in our minds; and memories fade in time, and are altered in their retelling. Even photos of a previous NOW fade and become corrupted. There is little of any NOW that can be preserved for any very long period in the sweep of eons.
2) The immense possibilities that exist in Tomorrow! And only one of them will become NOW. That is astonishing! There are at any moment, so many possible things that could happen, and yet only one of them emerges from the fog and becomes real.
That moment-by-moment emergence of one NOW is what I have come to view as the ongoing act of Creation. It is a dance we are actively engaged in, since so many NOWs happen because we have actively chosen them. Think of it as Dancing with God.