The Present viewed through the lens of the Future

The present, viewed though the lens of future, is often rushed or fearful.

We often do things, not just for the sake of doing them but because we want some outcome from the activity. Sometimes we even look down on activities that don’t yield some sort of gain somewhere down the line. We also find that many people around us discourage doing something for mere joy or fun of it. Many things can fall into this category. Running for example. We don’t just go running for the sake of running. We go running because we want to lose weight. Or because we want to improve our health. Or because we feel guilty about not doing enough exercise. But running for the mere sake of running is the best kind of running. It is not just an activity we do to get to some other more desirable state. It is just a fun activity (for me at least).

Other things that are often deemed as non-valuable and a waste of time is art, especially if it doesn’t have some monetary gain attached to it. Someone might ask, Why do you spend your weekends painting if you don’t plan to make money from it? Or, Why do you make Christmas decorations if you can’t sell them? Indeed, many, many people have asked me why I write, because fiction writing tends to take a long time to be financially gainful. Yes, why do anything in life if there isn’t some money to be made from it, right? But I’ve come to loathe this mindset because it has the tendency to suck the joy out of everything. You’re always doing something just to get it done. Or to get something out of it. There is no presence, only the chase of some reward or destination in the future. Often chasing progress without really focusing on the process, the small, seemingly insignificant steps, can lead us on some dark paths. This is what I call progress-over-process thinking, and here’s a related post.

But this post is not about money or art. It is about realising that we don’t have to bring a lot of future thinking into the present moment. Sometimes a little future thinking is good. A general idea of where we want to go. But sometimes, being overly concerned with the future in the present moment, just amplifies frustrations, fears and restlessness. For example, when we feel rushed, it is often because we’re harbouring too much concern for the future. If we’re just enjoying something in the moment, the fear and agitation disappear. The future doesn’t matter all that much in this moment.

(Also see: The Present viewed through the lens of the Past)