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On Becoming a
"Nowie"
by Jeff Hutner |
In the sixties there were Hippies. In the 80's,
Yuppies and in the new millennium, a new mutation of
humans gained momentum--The Nowies. Rooted in the
present, these individuals are easily identified by
their unwillingness to become attached to thoughts,
people, or things. They simply live in the moment.
Easier said than done.
We live in a culture of distractions designed to
alleviate the psychic pain and stress most people are
assaulted by each day. Many of us have become trapped by
past events projected onto the blank canvas of the
present. People and events that have negatively impacted
our lives continue to be replayed over and over in new
forms until we learn how to break that cycle. Fear of
things to come is also a projection on our white screen
of the moment. This future worry is also associated with
the past since it hasn't happened yet and, therefore,
must relate to something we have taken in that might
lead to a dangerous situation sometime or somewhere. In
either event, past or future projections on the present
tend to deaden the moment and make it and us a shadow of
true potential.
Being totally absorbed in the present moment--now and
now--is the source of our aliveness, joy and creativity.
It is the place in which manifestation takes place. The
cost of not being present in the moment is our
aliveness. Artists and athletes are great examples of
individuals who enjoy the openness and potentiality of
the now. Artists create their most powerful work when
they transcend past and future and become totally
absorbed in the moment. Athletes speak of being in the
flow and of accomplishing things they normally couldn't
do.
Living in the moment is largely about getting out of
the way and allowing our intelligence, intuition and the
flow of life to intersect. In the wonderful film,
Amazing Grace and Chuck, Amazing Grace is a professional
basketball player and Chuck is a young baseball player
who befriends Amazing, when he refuses to play anymore
baseball until there are no more missiles. In their
initial meeting Chuck asks Amazing how he makes three
point shots. Amazing tells him that he dribbles the ball
towards the basket, stops, lines up the shot, and
"then I disappear." Getting out of the way and
"disappearing" are part of being present.
Total absorption in the moment can be seen in children
playing, that is, until they are told that they must put
away their toys and prepare for the "real"
world. We all suffer in varying degrees from this
intuitive space of play in the moment and the outer
world's imposition of its rules, dogma, and peer
pressure that fills our heads with a paradigm that is
anything by present oriented.
Television, wristwatches, and schedules all impose an order that traps us in time. Yes there is much useful information to be learned and it is critical that we don't lose our connection to the moment. In The Nowie handbook, I've attempted to provide reminders of the
sacred nature of the moment, for without it, I believe we are lost. As reality appears to be speeding up, with
more and more happening in less and less time, our sense
of spaciousness, in which we can immerse ourselves, is
disappearing for many.
The wide use of meditation and yoga practices are indicators of a deep need for connection with the now, free from the past and future. My "Nowie" handbook is designed to remind us that power, creativity
and expression all live in the moment. and the quotes
are reminders we can use to return to that place through
conscious attention.
May you enjoy your journey to the now.
© Copyright Jeff Hutner
2002. All Rights Reserved.
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The following
quotes reflect the now in history and provide an insight
into the evolution of now consciousness:
The now in which God
created the first man and the Now in which the last man
will disappear and the Now in which I am speaking—all
are the same in God, and there is only one Now. —Meister
Eckhart
Be Here Now, which was
the title of one of my books, is a spiritual method.
When you are in the moment, the moment is...it’s like
baklava....it’s got planes of consciousness...just
this moment … this moment… this moment. Just take
the moment and go into it and you go into a place in
your own being where you are God....not the only
one...we are all God. It’s in the Hindu religion, we
say that is the atman, and you go fully into the atman,
when you go into the moment. You know life is full of
moments...the birds singing, the traffic moving….atman.
-- Ram Dass
The future is a
concept--it doesn't exist! There is no such thing as
tomorrow! There never will be because time is always
now. That's one of the things we discover when we stop
talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is
only present, only an eternal now. -- Alan Watts
When we are quiet, a
Presence can be felt. It is the single soul of all
people. It seems to be from within, but it is equally
without. This Presence has character, and the words we
might use to describe that character include loving,
generous, peaceful, clear, caring, respectful. To the
degree that our behavior reflects these qualities is the
degree to which that Presence is alive within us. --Robert
Rabbin
To act as a superior man,
a samurai of relationship, you must feel the entire
situation with your whole body. A closed body is unable
to sense subtle cues and signals, and therefore unable
to act with mastery in the moment. -- David Deida,
The Way of the Superior Man
The purpose of life is to
be in the present moment and enjoy each step you make. --
Thich Nhat Hanh, poet
Staying in the present
prevents my getting stuck in the fear of the past or
future. -- Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D. & Diane V.
Cirincione, Ph.D., Simple Thoughts That Can Change Your
Life
The world is new to us
every morning—this is God’s gift, and every person
should believe he is reborn every day. -- Ba’al
Shem Tov |
Jeff Hutner is an Ojai, California based evolutionary business writer and consultant, master networker, musician, and the
founding editor of New Paradigm Digest, a window on emerging culture. He is currently
completing two books, one on living in the moment from which these quotes are taken and a second of evolutionary wisdom for
business. In April 2002, he embarked on a trip around the US to conduct video interviews with "Practical Visionaries"
from many disciplines. Email: tehg1@earthlink.net.
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