(You might as well do it in style, with some Black Milk Clothing's Earthly Delights Leggings)
A couple years ago, I found Levni Yilmaz’s genius series of videos titled Tales of Mere Existence. Each one describes some sort of life situation or emotions most of us have gone through, especially regarding loneliness and insecurity;
they are entertaining and make good use of humor, but at the same time they usually expose some really uncomfortable or painful truth about the human condition. It sounds gloomy, but at the same time they make you smile in recognition of your own messed up patterns and make you feel less alone in your inner chaos, and some of them even have hints of positive reflections stemming from the initial conflict.
The one that really resonated with me recently is the one titled
Waiting For Life To Begin.
I recommend you take a couple of minutes to check it out, and you will probably recognize yourself in it like I did: I fully identify with the constant feeling of each stage of your life seeming like a preparation for something that is yet to come. That persistent idea that one is just some sort of unfinished project, and that at some point we will reach completion; then, the person we always wanted to be will suddenly spark into existence and the life we always dreamed of, our ideal scenario, will magically unfold before us. However, one tends to always look forward.
Whenever we reach what in the past felt like a milestone, we suddenly realize that it doesn’t quite feel like we are “there” already. “There” is that place of completion, of satisfaction with one’s life, achievement, peace and harmony. And it seems like we always have an idea of where “there” is supposed to be: the moment after we move out, after we graduate, when we finally form a family, or become financially independent - but,
ironically, every time that one gets “there”, it suddenly disappears and moves further away. Eckhart Tolle, author of
The Power Of Now, states that
the reason why this happens is because during most of our lives we are not living in the present moment. Now, bear with me, I know that
The Power Of Now sounds like the title of one of those slightly phony and mostly fluffy books full of banality disguised as deep insights – the sort you find on an airport store as some sort of desperate last resort for in-flight entertainment–, but this one
has some very interesting points about the nature of existential angst and the reasons why we often feel unfulfilled, and they make a lot of sense. In fact, many of the principles he develops echo with some other authors and philosophical stances that I have studied so far, like Buddhism and Zen, the biological-psychological thesis about human behavior in Robert Anton Wilson’s
Prometheus Rising, and even Gurdjieff’s teachings in
Fragments Of An Unknown Teaching. I strongly sense that there is some underlying fundamental truth to it.
In short, Eckhart Tolle’s fundamental ideas can be summarized like this:
First,
you need to realize that the only thing that you ever have for sure, in your entire life, is the present moment. It is only within the present moment that you can feel, act and create anything as part of your life; this moment, the present, is the only aspect that you can have some control over and act into. Therefore,
Worrying about the future and feeling remorseful about the past is completely useless and unnecessary. First, you need to realize that the past is something you no longer have control over; therefore, if you want to free yourself, you have no option but to accept it, learn your lessons, and let it go. In a similar way, the future only exists in your head, creating an anxiety gap in your pattern of thought, since you are constantly consumed by your expectations – good or bad – about things that are yet to come. However, you can never know for sure, the only thing that you can do to affect the future is acting in the now, which you will be unable to do if your mind is constantly traveling back and forth in time and not paying attention to what is actually happening.
The key to feeling calm, peaceful and liberated is learning to embrace the now and to fully experience the present moment. One needs to avoid ‘creating’ more mental time – and, therefore, more problems –, and just deal with what is presented to us at the time, which is plenty already.
This awareness is the first step to begin enjoying life as it is and start living it fully, which is a major piece of the puzzle when it comes to happiness and inner peace. + + + There are many more, interesting ideas in the book, but these are the most relevant for this particular topic. You might find yourself thinking that these are very obvious premises that everybody knows instinctively, but ironically, most of us have not truly assimilated them. Pay closer attention, and you will realize that most likely you do not act guided by those principles, even though you know that it would be in your best interest to do so. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to break it down to you and explain it in a way that gives you that
Eureka! moment of sudden enlightenment, and Eckart Tolle’s book did that for me.
Otherwise, you can just listen to the infinite wisdom of
Iron Maiden:So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years,
Face up... make your stand,
And realize you're living in the golden years.
Every passing minute is an opportunity to turn it all around. The past is gone, let it go. It is what you do today that counts. This moment is all you have, enjoy it fully. Try to avoid getting your mind distracted with uncertain and unnecessary loads; most of the things you fear will never happen, anyway.
Make life happen, focus on the now and all the miracles around you. Even mundane, ordinary activities can beam with unexpected shine if you truly pay attention and look closely.
The moment where your life begins is the moment when you chose to do so…