We live in a constant tug-of-war between the pull of the future and the stillness of the present. The future is an illusion, a mirage that we chase endlessly, convinced that fulfillment lies just beyond the horizon. Yet, in the chase, we miss the profound power of now — the only moment we ever truly have. Everything we seek, every answer we need, is already here, buried beneath the noise of our distractions, waiting to be uncovered.
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The linear nature of our existence is often our greatest foe. We’ve created a world full of restrictions that grind against the natural flow of life, all while pretending we have control over it. Yet, this contrast — though limiting — is how we define our physicality and emotional spectrum.
Still, we’ve become addicted to the future. Tomorrow has become our obsession. Society is utterly disconnected from presence, trapped in an endless loop of planning, scheduling, coping, and conforming. We trade our most limited resource — time — for income, saving for education, housing, travel, security, retirement, and taxes. Laws, bylaws, rituals, and ideologies only reinforce this cycle, handed down generation after generation. Do we dare ask whether things are truly improving? Do we even want or need them to?
There are many who talk about “hope for the future,” which, to me, is insulting and misleading. It’s a wildly deceptive notion that defers our collective focus and energy into some ambiguous, nonexistent time and place — the future. “Hope” and “faith” are often repeated, disempowering concepts in our great narrative, with no basis in reality and no chance of resolution. In truth, hope is a cover story, a convenient lie we use to rationalize and justify the impositions, attacks, and sociocultural upheavals we endure — struggles and suffering that nobody asked for, and which make no sense. Hope is wishing for things to change without taking action, without believing we have any power over our circumstances or environment.
We’ve lost sight of the extraordinary power of now. It’s not something we’ll find amid the distractions of modern life. Real foundations exist in family, nature, art, open discourse, and wild play. This is where life truly unfolds.
Anything that pulls you away from the present deserves examination. Where did it come from? Who does it belong to? What else is possible? What would love do? Is this even true?
Listen to the stillness within you. Here. Now.
Solvitur ambulando