This is reposted with permission from my friend Adam, I have asked my friends and family to begin writing articles for me or giving me permission to re-post their works so we can use Steemit together to help fund the project we are all part of.
This short essay draws its inspiration from a chat in the Synergy Lounge of the Synergy Hub (a spiritual/progressive community that I have been living at since 27th October) between Simon, Robert, Thorsten and myself on the morning on 4th December and is an attempt to summarise the points made and the conclusions arrived at:
Do we really need to choose between “living in the now” and planning in terms of the way that we approach our lives and our work at the Synergy Hub? Is it really the case that we have to choose between these two options or does this way of thinking, itself, create a false dichotomy (a false choice between options which in reality are not mutually exclusive) which is itself an obstacle to fully realizing our potential as a community of co-creators? We believe that this is indeed the case and that we will need to move beyond this false dichotomy in order to realize our full potential as individuals and as a community.
Many co-creators at the Synergy Hub have a clear and insightful understanding of the dangers of not living in the now. Not living in the now can be highly dysfunctional. We have all met people who are so preoccupied with their future plans and fears (or, conversely, so stuck in their past) that they are unable to realize the possibilities that exist for them right now, today, in the present moment. Most of us have been such a person ourselves at some point in our lives. The practice of living in the now can be a powerful antidote to such fearful and unproductive states of mind that really can help us to open our minds and hearts to the infinite possibilities for love, friendship, kindness, learning, creativity, new understanding and awareness, and synergistic co-creation that life presents us with on a day to day basis, moment by moment, especially in an environment so rich in creative individuals and creative ideas as the Synergy Hub. Opening our mind and our heart to such opportunities and possibilities is a beautiful and amazing things — something that we can celebrate and deeply appreciate. Compared to the attitude of mind of someone who is stuck in the past or the future and is incapable of recognising such opportunities it looks like a high level of spiritual and social attainment — an attitude towards life that allows us to give, receive, learn and grow each and every day. Indeed, it is, a high level of spiritual and social attainment relative to the attitude of being stuck in the past or the future and failing to recognise such opportunities.
Given that there will always be greater levels to which we can develop in terms of our ability to live in the now and continually improve our awareness of the moment by moment opportunities for friendship, kindness and creative expression (as well as our ability to truly listen and hear what others have to say, which is a key component of this) there will always be a role for those within the community who want to remind us to live in the now, to follow our passions or highest excitement, and to remain continually aware of these possibilities and opportunities. We do not wish to challenge this, but we do wish to challenge the assumption and belief that this insight or truth is the only insight or truth that we need in order to fulfil our potential, both individually and collectively.
The problem, as we see it, arises when the belief in living in the now assumes the status of dogma — defined as “a principle or set of principles that is incontrovertibly true” — and is used to shut down discussion and consideration of solutions based upon planning — defined as “the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal.” Just as there are situations in which thinking obsessively about the past and the future is dysfunctional so there are also situations where living exclusively in the now, and neglecting to think about the future or draw lessons from the past, can also be dysfunctional. For example, producing food through farming and agricultural production is only made possible by planning and thinking about the desired future outcome, i.e. growing the fruit, vegetables or other crops that we aim to produce. Big organisations have achieved their success through their ability and willingness to plan. And we can learn from them without having to emulate every single aspect of their example.
Although thinking about the future necessarily depends upon the ability to momentarily turn our attention away from the now to future possibilities (and vice versa) the two are in no sense mutually contradictory. Rather they can be likened to the different gears on a bicycle or a car, each of which are appropriate for different situations. It is perfectly possible for us to have the ability to plan and the ability to live in the now — to think thoughtfully about the future, and then to turn our attention to the here and now. Planning can actually allow us to live in the now more fully than we would otherwise be able to, in the confidence and knowledge that we have put in place plans for future events for which we have responsibility. Although it certainly looks very different, the belief and assertion “we must always live in the now” can be as limiting and restrictive as the assertion “we must always plan for everything.” It can also prevents us from being able to developing co-creative relationships with those who are not in our immediate presence but who we could do amazing work with, given a bit of planning and forethought.
The fundamental point that needs to be made is that neither living in the now or planning should be seen as goals in and of themselves — they are means to an end. What we want is to be able to live happily, creatively, and lovingly, both now and in the future — to practically demonstrate a way of living and working that is both intrinsically rewarding and an inspiration to others, which, in turn, will lead to greater and greater co-creative opportunities. That being so we should be willing to experiment with creative combinations of spontaneity and more traditional approaches to organisation and planning in order to discover the most optimal combination of these for the achievement of our desired outcomes. Spontaneity, creative expression and social synergy are too precious and important to be sacrificed for the sake of planning and structure, but the drawbacks of not having sufficient planning and structure — such as not completing essential tasks or having a situation in which the responsibility for such tasks falls disproportionately upon the shoulder’s of a few people, thereby creating social tension — are themselves obstacles to us realizing our co-creative potential as people cannot be truly creative if they are feeling worried and stressed.