Wednesday, May 14, 2008

In a Moment



Time is confusing me lately. I try to be "in the moment" but the rules are murky on the exact length of a moment. Did one just pass this second? And damn, another one? Can a moment prolong or linger for years if the essence of the moment doesn't change as in--

"There was a moment in time during the 2000's where I worked in my underwear for 6 years?" I don't get it.

I do know that we are becoming rather cavalier with our perception of time. Everybody says "going forward" and it is causing me great anxiety. I hear this essentially as an absolution of the past, as in, "You are right, I have been stealing cookies from the cookie jar, but going forward I resolve to do better." There is a subtle implication in the phrase that implies the past means nothing.

I remember the first time I heard the phrase uttered. To avoid soiling my fingers this morning I refuse to type it, but it was in reference to waging wars of no relevance and what one might do going forward regardless of decisions which brought us to this point, this moment. The past is done son, so get over it.

It has gone much further now, and everything is going forward at such a rate we will all arrive well ahead of ourselves if we are not careful, standing somewhere with no idea of how we got there, or what we are supposed to do now.

I much prefer the dependably poetic, "from here on out" which signifies a vast and unknowable horizon as well as an awareness that in this moment, right now, one is making a change.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I need to get that off my chest this morning. In a moment I am on my way to beautiful Lake Guntersville, Alabama. This is one of the more mythical stops on my southerly route, as much for the fine people I know there as for the bucolic fjords and the sparkling water.

back in a moment,

Juancho

8 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

You know, I'm sure that there are folks out there who miss the bike theme, but I'm loving the Philosophy and Thoughts of Juancho.
Travel easy. Travel well.

AucillaSinks said...

Buzzwords live for a moment in time and the latest one my manager is fixated on regards time.

Boss Lady: If you have any "cycles" available this week then please review this TPS report...
or
Boss Lady: If you do not have "cycles" to do this please let me know.

Aucilla: Yeah, I got me a cycle and I will be using extra "time" at lunch to ride it.

Human Wrecking Ball said...

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?
If so I can't imagine why.

Anonymous said...

Wake Up!
Its later than you think.

Ms. Moon said...

Whenever I hear the word "cycle" I think of menstrual cycles which would make me want to look at Aucillasink's boss with great wonderment if I were a man when she started in on the cycle business.

Anonymous said...

The past is immutable, the future unknowable, so the only moment that really exists is right....right.....NOW!

Did I miss it? Wait, here it comes again!

Even if the only moment that is real is the one that is happening, we are more comfortable living with our memories or hopes.

I find my memories of things are better than the actual experience probably was, and my plans are always better in the anticipation than the execution.

C.T.

Anonymous said...

I read this post in its inception's future and in Juancho's philosophical past, so I figure I have achieved enlightenment.

Call me during prime numbered days and exponential hours to see if I'm warping.

mungaM

sasquatch said...

Staying "in the moment" is a spiritual exercise meant to be used whenever such an exercise is affordable.

Tinkering with the past and anticpating the future can be as fun and liberating as anything else, not to mention often necessary. Staying in the moment during Hurricane season or as the shots get closer is a guru's gig.

Of course, if the future often looks like certain death and destruction (pending disorientation, followed closely by dehydration), staying in the moment might not be such a bad idea after all.