On the last day of the year, David Whyte posted what he called “a rebellious little New Year’s gift.” There was no vulgarity, no anarchic foaming at the mouth.
Susie, this is so lovely. The whole last paragraph gave me chills, "Now is the seed that gave rise to the tree that gave itself to make the paper. Now is the cloud that hovers over the tree in the forest before the rain falls. Now is the great-grandchild who draws a picture of a tree in Magic Markers on the piece of white paper."
I love this idea of embracing the allness and the nothingness, which is so much more comprehensive than now, which includes all the history and all the future and all the beetles.
This piece really gave me something to not just think about, but to feel into. Thank you! 🙏❤️
I loved the Power of Now. I think it's useful in some ways, but I couldn't agree with you more. AKA, Now-so last week, haha.
We do a disservice to the human reality of time and three-dimensional existence: it may be useful to think of metaphysical Source in the 5th dimension and so on as the beginning and ending and everything in between all at once in a time simultaneity . But human life is indeed about the in between.
As you so eloquently state.
We can certainly choose to live in the now, it does obviate the need to actually educate yourself about anything. Past, present, or thiMking about the future for that matter. I can think of many times in my life when I wish I had thought more about the future because I was living way too much in the now...
So maybe that goes to part of your thesis here.
I love the closing where you take the tree through its three-dimensional time iterations.
When I think on a tree in the now, like AI
open paren, It embarrasses me to say, close paren. ;-)
as when I meditate for example, and imagine myself sitting on the ground leaning back against a massive oak tree, I'm sampling all the time-linked memories I've ever made about what a tree is. What value it has, what succor it might give me in the moment, what comes from it.
what I lean my elbow on when I write at my desk.
what I swing at a ball In the baseball field and so on.
As you state so richly.
We are past present and future...microsecond by microsecond. Which is a time-based consideration...as is the word Now.
So Jim....the last sentences of your comment brings the greatest joy to a writer. I wonder if we were more now-ophilic when we were younger but given the passage of the years and the approach of the end of life have developed a more nuanced understanding of time? Much more to talk about.
I am not a scholar of NOW but my experience of it is that when my mind is wandering, I am usually unconscious of it or semi-conscious which is not the state I desire. If I think about the ideas you are discussing, I am aware of what I am thinking and therefore present, so I don't see NOW as an enemy of history or complexity as I can go wherever I want as long as I am along for the ride and not in la-la land.
I appreciate that point and I'm also aware of you as a more experienced meditator who I've looked to over the years to point me in a more useful direction. I think the issue may not be the depth of the meaning of now as much as its trivialization by pop spirituality.
Totally agree Susie! I run a Midlife Rethink programme in 3 parts, where reviewing the PAST is where we start, because it so often contains the kernels of answers about who we are, and what we might want to become next.
and i love David Whyte on almost anything, but his Consolations books digging into individual words are a delight for any writer or reader.
YES! Great reminder that NOW contains multitudes! I also like the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh regarding NOW, that everything is part of a cycle of transformation from something else. Thanks for this lovely essay that reminds us.
Susie, I have been looking forward to reading this essay, and for every good reason. You shine a light on a (subtle or not so) spiritual bypassing in a puritanical insistence on "now," especially treacherous in a world on the brink. With Jocelyn, I appreciate your reflections, too, on embracing the allness and nothingness, and I felt my heart quiver when you shared the experience of recognizing the first glimmers of aging in your sons, and of wondering about your tomorrows. . . .
Very moving, Susie. I also never considered that the NOW negates the past as well as our future concerns. As I recall, the emphasis on the NOW was an antidote to getting stuck in the past or terrified of the future. Not having children or grandchildren, your observations add a whole layer of complexity in envisioning their lives to come. Thank you for your ongoing eloquence. I look forward to reading your offerings when they arrive in my inbox.
I'm getting some feedback to that effect. I think I was responding to the vulgarization of the idea of NOW in mass market spirituality. Thanks for your kind words about family.
I'd like to add to my previous comment that when you are focusing on your breath in meditation and therefore moving away from thoughts, that is a practice to deepen concentration. Once your concentration is deep enough, you just observe what comes up.
Reading it, I found words to realize that from Be Here Now forward, the culture continually emphasizes NOW at the expense of what seems to be the truly operative wore: BE.
Image: Being is the constant, the flow of now is the flashlight or torch Being holds through the passage of the human construct we call time.
Too many words here, an abstract and faulty expression of experience, but nevertheless authentic.
No. No, MK. It's wonderful. I'll add that the four letter unpronounceable name of God in Hebrew represents is-was-will/be......Being in all its forms. Prioritizing BE as against NOW feels very important.
Susie, this is so lovely. The whole last paragraph gave me chills, "Now is the seed that gave rise to the tree that gave itself to make the paper. Now is the cloud that hovers over the tree in the forest before the rain falls. Now is the great-grandchild who draws a picture of a tree in Magic Markers on the piece of white paper."
I love this idea of embracing the allness and the nothingness, which is so much more comprehensive than now, which includes all the history and all the future and all the beetles.
This piece really gave me something to not just think about, but to feel into. Thank you! 🙏❤️
I'm so glad you feel that way, Jocelyn. Sometimes I wonder about the obscure nature of my train of thought. But then I remember that I'm not alone!
Thank you, Susie. That's a wonderful meditation.
A powerful insight.
I loved the Power of Now. I think it's useful in some ways, but I couldn't agree with you more. AKA, Now-so last week, haha.
We do a disservice to the human reality of time and three-dimensional existence: it may be useful to think of metaphysical Source in the 5th dimension and so on as the beginning and ending and everything in between all at once in a time simultaneity . But human life is indeed about the in between.
As you so eloquently state.
We can certainly choose to live in the now, it does obviate the need to actually educate yourself about anything. Past, present, or thiMking about the future for that matter. I can think of many times in my life when I wish I had thought more about the future because I was living way too much in the now...
So maybe that goes to part of your thesis here.
I love the closing where you take the tree through its three-dimensional time iterations.
When I think on a tree in the now, like AI
open paren, It embarrasses me to say, close paren. ;-)
as when I meditate for example, and imagine myself sitting on the ground leaning back against a massive oak tree, I'm sampling all the time-linked memories I've ever made about what a tree is. What value it has, what succor it might give me in the moment, what comes from it.
what I lean my elbow on when I write at my desk.
what I swing at a ball In the baseball field and so on.
As you state so richly.
We are past present and future...microsecond by microsecond. Which is a time-based consideration...as is the word Now.
Wonderful. I'm gonna keep on thinking about this.
From now to now to now.
So Jim....the last sentences of your comment brings the greatest joy to a writer. I wonder if we were more now-ophilic when we were younger but given the passage of the years and the approach of the end of life have developed a more nuanced understanding of time? Much more to talk about.
I am not a scholar of NOW but my experience of it is that when my mind is wandering, I am usually unconscious of it or semi-conscious which is not the state I desire. If I think about the ideas you are discussing, I am aware of what I am thinking and therefore present, so I don't see NOW as an enemy of history or complexity as I can go wherever I want as long as I am along for the ride and not in la-la land.
I appreciate that point and I'm also aware of you as a more experienced meditator who I've looked to over the years to point me in a more useful direction. I think the issue may not be the depth of the meaning of now as much as its trivialization by pop spirituality.
Totally agree Susie! I run a Midlife Rethink programme in 3 parts, where reviewing the PAST is where we start, because it so often contains the kernels of answers about who we are, and what we might want to become next.
and i love David Whyte on almost anything, but his Consolations books digging into individual words are a delight for any writer or reader.
He is a treasure. It's such a gift to have his prose to refer to along with his poetry.
YES! Great reminder that NOW contains multitudes! I also like the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh regarding NOW, that everything is part of a cycle of transformation from something else. Thanks for this lovely essay that reminds us.
I find that the idea of the cycle of transformation supports me along the way no matter what comes up for me. Thanks for adding that into the mix.
great insight!
Susie, I have been looking forward to reading this essay, and for every good reason. You shine a light on a (subtle or not so) spiritual bypassing in a puritanical insistence on "now," especially treacherous in a world on the brink. With Jocelyn, I appreciate your reflections, too, on embracing the allness and nothingness, and I felt my heart quiver when you shared the experience of recognizing the first glimmers of aging in your sons, and of wondering about your tomorrows. . . .
This piece belongs on my altar.
That would be a great honor.
Very moving, Susie. I also never considered that the NOW negates the past as well as our future concerns. As I recall, the emphasis on the NOW was an antidote to getting stuck in the past or terrified of the future. Not having children or grandchildren, your observations add a whole layer of complexity in envisioning their lives to come. Thank you for your ongoing eloquence. I look forward to reading your offerings when they arrive in my inbox.
I'm getting some feedback to that effect. I think I was responding to the vulgarization of the idea of NOW in mass market spirituality. Thanks for your kind words about family.
I'd like to add to my previous comment that when you are focusing on your breath in meditation and therefore moving away from thoughts, that is a practice to deepen concentration. Once your concentration is deep enough, you just observe what comes up.
I do better with the soles of my feet. Focusing on my breath raises too many concerns, feelings of inadequacy about whether I'm doing it right.
Thanks for this,Susie.
Reading it, I found words to realize that from Be Here Now forward, the culture continually emphasizes NOW at the expense of what seems to be the truly operative wore: BE.
Image: Being is the constant, the flow of now is the flashlight or torch Being holds through the passage of the human construct we call time.
Too many words here, an abstract and faulty expression of experience, but nevertheless authentic.
xxxooo
No. No, MK. It's wonderful. I'll add that the four letter unpronounceable name of God in Hebrew represents is-was-will/be......Being in all its forms. Prioritizing BE as against NOW feels very important.
I-Am-Who-Am, so much more accurate a translation into English than I-Am-Who-I-Am…