We are not as free to choose as people once thought. Science has brought old ideas of free will into question. However, we live as though we have free will. Ethics, morality and spirituality depend on a sense of free will, the core of which is in the emotions. We must believe in free will, we have no choice. [Isaac…
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Value for Tuesday of Week 48 in the season of Harvest and Celebration
Being in the Here and Now
Now is the only time, and here is the only place, you can ever do anything. All productive actions, including times of productive rest and restoration, are carried out in the here and now. Every breath you take is in the now, where you are.
- Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same; and so that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him? These two things then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver and he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not. [Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations (167 A.C.E.), Book II (XII).]
The idea of living in the here and now is not a dogma but only an observation of the value of centering ourselves in the present time and place. When we remember good times, the joyful experience is in the now. “. . . thinking about good things that we did or that happened to us in the past can empower us. It can also remind us that, although the present might be problematic, there have been very good, meaningful aspects to our life, and that our life, taken as a whole, has been much more meaningful than it appears now. Focusing on good things that happened in the past may also help us remember that although we may be in a bad place now, our life isn’t essentially bad or meaningless.” “Dispositional mindfulness and savoring the moment are distinct, interactive predictors of positive emotions and psychological health”. All of those thoughts and feelings are in the here and now too.
“Our experiences of the world are limited to the self, here and now, yet people, events, and situations that are beyond our immediate experience populate our mind. We plan for the future, remember the past, think about remote locations, take others’ perspective, and consider alternatives to reality. In each case, we transcend the present to consider psychologically distant objects.” However: “We can get caught up in ‘doing’ to the point that we are no longer ‘being’ and living. We can end up searching for a better version of ourselves, our careers, our relationships, our possessions, and our lives.” The more important question is whether our present state of Being liberates and uplifts us, and brings us to a better place than we would otherwise be. That is also to be considered in the here and now.
We can worry and imagine the worst. “This mental habit of ruminating over what has happened or what will happen can make life a miserable journey. Many people are unable to control their mental chatter and continue to suffer. But there’s hope if you can learn to tame your mind to stay in the present moment.”
Real
True Narratives
From the dark side:
- Mary Laura Philpott, Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives (Atria, 2022): “It’s about a certain kind of love that’s inextricably bound up with the fear of loss. A certain kind of anxiety — the anticipatory fear of the looming empty nest, which if you’re someone of Philpott’s sort, may begin at the moment your baby is born.”
Technical and Analytical Readings
Non-technical books:
- Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment (Shambhala, 2009).
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go: Waking Up to Who You Are (Parallax Press, 2007).
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living (Parallax Press, 2006).
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Our Appointment with Life: Discourse on Living Happily in the Present Moment (Parallax Press, 1990).
- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (Namaste Publishing, 1997).
From the dark side: Fear:
- Jan Plamper & Benjamin Lazier, eds., Fear: Across the Disciplines (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012).
- Martin M. Antony, et. al., Mastering Your Fears and Phobias: Workbook (Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2006).
- Josée Savard, et. al., Treating Fear of Cancer Recurrence with Group Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: A Step-by-Step Guide (Springer, 2022).
- Mohammed R. Milad & Seth D. Norrholm, eds., Fear Extinction: From Basic Neuroscience to Clinical Implications (Springer, 2023).
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
In this fairy tale, a fir tree is chopped down, taken inside, decorated, and admired. The tree imagines its future.
In spring, when the swallows and the storks came, the Tree asked them, “Don't you know where they have been taken? Have you not met them anywhere?” The swallows did not know anything about it; but the Stork looked musing, nodded his head, and said, “Yes; I think I know; I met many ships as I was flying hither from Egypt; on the ships were magnificent masts, and I venture to assert that it was they that smelt so of fir. I may congratulate you, for they lifted themselves on high most majestically!” “Oh, were I but old enough to fly across the sea! But how does the sea look in reality? What is it like?” “That would take a long time to explain,” said the Stork, and with these words off he went. “Rejoice in thy growth!” said the Sunbeams. “Rejoice in thy vigorous growth, and in the fresh life that moveth within thee!” And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew wept tears over him; but the Fir understood it not. . . . The Tree only came to himself when he was unloaded in a court-yard with the other trees, and heard a man say, “That one is splendid! We don't want the others.” Then two servants came in rich livery and carried the Fir Tree into a large and splendid drawing-room. Portraits were hanging on the walls, and near the white porcelain stove stood two large Chinese vases with lions on the covers. There, too, were large easy-chairs, silken sofas, large tables full of picture-books and full of toys, worth hundreds and hundreds of crowns—at least the children said so. And the Fir Tree was stuck upright in a cask that was filled with sand; but no one could see that it was a cask, for green cloth was hung all round it, and it stood on a large gaily-colored carpet. Oh! how the Tree quivered! What was to happen? The servants, as well as the young ladies, decorated it. On one branch there hung little nets cut out of colored paper, and each net was filled with sugarplums; and among the other boughs gilded apples and walnuts were suspended, looking as though they had grown there, and little blue and white tapers were placed among the leaves. Dolls that looked for all the world like men—the Tree had never beheld such before—were seen among the foliage, and at the very top a large star of gold tinsel was fixed. It was really splendid—beyond description splendid. “This evening!” they all said. “How it will shine this evening!” “Oh!” thought the Tree. “If the evening were but come! If the tapers were but lighted! And then I wonder what will happen! Perhaps the other trees from the forest will come to look at me! Perhaps the sparrows will beat against the windowpanes! I wonder if I shall take root here, and winter and summer stand covered with ornaments!” [Hans Christian Andersen, “The Fir Tree” (1844).]
That does not happen. Instead, the tree is put away and ignored over the winter. When spring comes, it is taken outside but its future is not what he had hoped for.
“'Tis over—'tis past!” said the poor Tree. “Had I but rejoiced when I had reason to do so! But now 'tis past, 'tis past!” And the gardener's boy chopped the Tree into small pieces; there was a whole heap lying there. The wood flamed up splendidly under the large brewing copper, and it sighed so deeply! [Hans Christian Andersen, “The Fir Tree” (1844).]
Novels:
- Isabella Hammad, The Parisian: A Novel (Grove Press, 2019): “Isabella Hammad has crafted an exquisite novel that, like Midhat himself, delves back into the confusing past while remaining wholly anchored in the precarious present.”
- Stewart O’Nan, Henry, Himself: A Novel (Viking, 2019): “The gift of O’Nan’s fiction is to immerse us deeply in Henry’s essence, in his desire to be useful and his nostalgia for a vanished way of life, for the forgotten homespun rituals and for houses with slate roofs and ornate gables. And when we watch him winding the clocks forward, we find ourselves wishing he could hold the minute hand motionless for just a while longer.” (stories about people who tried to escape the here and now)
- Yishai Sarid, The Memory Monster: A Novel (Restless Books, 2020): “. . . a brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present.”
Poetry
I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, / But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now, / Nor any more youth or age than there is now, / And will never be any more perfection than there is now, / Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
[Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1891-92), Book III: Song of Myself, 3.]
The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
[Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”]
Other poems:
- Wallace Stevens, “Sunday Morning”
- Wallace Stevens, “Snow Man”
- Mary Elizabeth Frye, “Do not stand at my grave and weep”
- William Shakespeare, “Carpe Diem”
- Rabindranath Tagore, “A Moment’s Indulgence”
- Javed Akhtar, “The moment seems to flow like a molten sapphire”
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz, “Tonight”
Poetry books:
- Lauren Shapiro, Arena (Cleveland University Poetry Center, 2020): “. . . a reminder of poetry’s filmic ability to slow and stop time”
-
Alex Dimitrov, Ecstasy: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 2025): “. . . the basic message rings true: Stop worrying about figuring everything out, embrace the pain and unknowing, live in the present as best you can.”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Without a hint of self-consciousness, Andean folk music is continually centered in the present moment and place. Perhaps the finest such group is Yarina, consisting of musicians with classical training who returned to their cultural roots. Here is a link to its YouTube channel, and to a compilation of songs. Another group of similar quality is Los Ruphay, with its releases.
More Andean/Incan music:
- Ensemble Pachamama, “The Music of Peru” album (2004) (49’);
- Ensemble Pachamama, “Music of the Andes” album (2007) (61’);
- Gonzalo Vargas & Inkuyo, with their YouTube channel;
- Ynka Huasy, “Original Music from the Andes, Volume 4” album (53’);
- Ayllu, “Condor Pasa” album (2018) (31’);
- Ayllu Sulca, “Music of the Incas” (1976) (44’);
- “Echoes of the Andes – Inca Spirit” (2008) (50’);
- “Spirit of the Incas – Flute Music of the Andes” album (51’);
- “Música del Cusco Inmortal” (Flutes of the Andes, vol. 2) album (108’);
- Andes Manta, “Music of the Andes” (2004) (59’);
- “Traditional Music of the Incas” album (2006) (60’);
- “Instrumental Music of the Andes” album (1999) (43’);
- “Andina Inca Music from Ecuador” (49’);
- “The Paths of Pain: The CAIFE Label, Quito, 1960-68” (64’);
- Manco Inca, with a link to its YouTube channel; and
- Inka Samai, “A Time for Us” (61’).
Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3, WAB 103, “Wagner Symphony” (1873, rev. 1877 and 1889) (approx. 62-77’) (list of recorded performances): “Rather than spinning towards a far-off goal, this music forces us to stay rooted in the moment.” Excellent performances are by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Böhm) in 1970, Staatskapelle Dresden (Jochum) in 1979, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Karajan) in 1980, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Inbal) in 1983, NDR Sinfonieorchester (Wand) in 1992, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR (Norrington) in 1999, SWR Symphony Orchestra (Gielen) in 1999, Staatskapelle Dresden (Nézet-Séguin) in 2016, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester (Nelsons) in 2017, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Thielemann) in 2021, and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Dausgaard) in 2021.
Other compositions:
- Robert Erickson, Night Music (1978) (approx. 18’)
- Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, Nunc fluens. Nunc stans (2020) (approx. 16’): “As though in a dream where time is fluid”.
- Ravi Shankar, “The Enchanted Dawn” (approx. 14-16’) and “Twilight Mood” (approx. 11’)
- Richard Causton, Ik zeg: NU (2019) (approx. 19’): “holds two timeframes in play simultaneously, and brilliantly. Its title, Dutch for ‘I say: NOW’, is borrowed from a family history written by a 98-year-old relative . . .” “Now-ness and then-ness move in parallel in this spacious, beautifully constructed work . . .” Causton “explains that the work has no ‘narrative’, nor is the listener taken on a ‘journey’; rather, the composition is static and juxtaposes and superimposes two contrasting types of music.”
- Richard Causton, La terra impareggiabile, for baritone and piano (2018) (approx. 35’) (text) “explores love, death, nature, light, darkness and time passing (or not).”
- Fazil Say, Violin Concerto No. 2, “Karantina günlerinde bahar sabahlari” (Spring Mornings in the Days of Quarantine), Op. 87 (2020) (approx. 25’). Say explains: “During lockdown, I always went for a walk on the empty beach very early in the morning. Each sunrise had its own colour, texture and atmosphere which subsequently flowed into the composition.”
Albums:
- Evan Parker Electro Acoustic Ensemble’s album entitled “The Moment’s Energy” (2009) (67’) offers a decided departure from the meditative spirit usually associated with living in the here and now. This work of improvisational, avant-garde jazz expresses the idea of seizing the moment, for a purpose.
- James Carter, “Present Tense” (2008) (63’)
- Lafayette Gilchrist, “Now” (2021) (159’)
- Orrin Evans, “The Magic of Now” (2021) (58’): as with all spontaneously improvised jazz, the artists are fully in the moment of creation. “Righteous, rowdy, and riotous, joy abounds as the quartet, led by Archer and Stewart, slyly open Stewart's ‘Mynah’ from Telepathy (Blue Note, 1997) and it immediately becomes palpable that these guys are very glad, very effin' glad, to be playing together.” Evans explains the album title: “We’re past the point where we didn’t know what was going on or what the future would look like. Now we’re settling into what our ‘new normal’ will be, embracing the magic of now and the shape of what will happen next.”
- Song Yi Jeon & Vinicius Gomes, “Home” (2022) (49’), “showcases the duo's gorgeously enveloping blend of Brazilian, classical, and ECM-style jazz.” The album conveys a sense of being home, wherever you are.
- Ralph Alessi Quartet, “It’s Always Now” (2023) (59’): “With his extraordinary series of albums as leader for ECM, this is Alessi’s fourth, the trumpeter is forever moving forward. With such momentum comes new musical opportunities, and these always inevitably lead to the formation of new groups and musical relationships.”
- Devendra Banhart, “Rejoicing in the Hands” (2004) (42’) “is a record concerned with the absolute smallest things in life-- which usually end up being the most important-- helping pass the time when time is the only thing going anywhere. It's unconcerned with the past or the future, and is only too ready to supply songs you could sing after dinner or first thing in the morning.”
- Spafford Campbell, “Tomorrow Held” (2025) (45’): “Open your palm, and there it is. The morrow. The next moment. Hold it loose, then leave it be. All that matters is here, now. To listen to London-based duo Spafford Campbell is to dive into the time being, to enter an interior of vast scope and detailed texture, where images linger, lights dim and glow and sounds exchange in ways that command utter presence.”
Here are links to a few of many live performances in which the players were fully in the moment:
- Allan Botschinsky Quintet, “Live at the Tivoli Gardens 1996” (136’)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- John Denver, “Sweet Surrender” (lyrics)
- Billy Joel, “This Is the Time” (lyrics)
- Joe Cocker, "Feelin' Alright" (lyrics)
- Yungchen Lhamo, “Home Is Wherever You Are”
