What is and what might be ...

It is "now" that springs eternal, not love

If you aren’t completely freaked out by what is happening in the world right now, I hope you’re at least concerned. And if you aren’t concerned, I’m wondering why you’re reading this because you can’t possibly be interested in anything I might write. So, I’m going to assume that, if you’re reading this, you are concerned, even if you may not be completely freaked out (yet).

I’m completely freaked out. So much so that my typing is erratic and I’m having to go back and retype every ninth letter. So much so that I’ve been paralyzed by “it all” and unable to even think about writing. I’m “doomscrolling”, as a CBC-supportive site¹ called it, and having to remind myself to get off Bluesky² after an hour or so or who knows what might happen!?! (You can follow me there - @grettavosper.bsky.social - if you want to see my pithy comments on the daily craziness the world is throwing at us. The other day, I posted a recipe for Granna’s Uncooked Chocolate Macaroons to help relieve the suffering of a user who has sworn off donuts for Lent! Honestly. I do try to keep it light. Or, if not light, at least lighter…)

My daily meditation practice promises me that I can navigate this treachery called “life” if I just focus. Or sit. Or write. Or tap. Or something else. I’m not sure I’ve quite fallen for that, not sure it isn’t another ruse. But if it is, at least it’s an ancient one so who am I to argue?

Photo Credit: Karolina Grabowska, Unsplash

The strength and power of the ruse is in its argument that, from body scans to chanting to the practices of Stoicism, the focus is on what we can do in the present moment, in that infinitesimally small moment between what was and what will be. Because that is absolutely true. The moment between a moment ago and now makes the difference in how my now is spent. (Believe me, gurus are just about as hard to follow as was that sentence!)

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However we spend our next moment - creating an intention or following through on one, picking up the phone to call someone and cheer them up, sharing a positive Bluesky post, compiling a ToDo list, intentionally turning away from negative thoughts, picking up a book of poetry, searching for a quote on “compassion” or “freedom” or “beauty” - will make all the difference in the world.

The New Dictionary of Thoughts, MCMLX, Ralph Emerson Browns, Ed.

I can say that because I know the sentence could just as easily be written like this: “However we spend our next moment - breaking a promise, dissing a friend, sharing a bigoted Bluesky post, having another drink, choosing social media over your partner, sharing conspiracy theories - will make all the difference in the world.” And that, too, is absolutely true.

In every moment, we get to decide how we want to engage in the world, and thereby, how we want to change it and ourselves, and how we might influence the lives of others. We are only ever that moment away from hauling ourselves out of complacency and into action, or from having something that is deeply and incredibly important to us and not having it anymore. We are always a moment away from a truth that might destroy our understanding of the world. And we are always a moment away from making a difference that might change that same world. And if not to the whole world, perhaps to the whole world lived by one, single person.

I wrote this piece in celebration of Morley Lem, a friend of West Hill United who died in February. Morley’s life was one of change, one in which he disciplined himself to be the best he could be for himself, his community, and the people he served. It was an honour to know him. Each time he gifted me with his smile was a moment of delight. Each was a moment between the one before and the one that came after. He spent his multitude of moments making a positive difference in many, many lives.

This Less-than-a-Moment

The view forward from here is limited.
It is arrested in the stuff of the moment: 
light from the window 
illuminating 
       a damp tea towel
       or the arm of the chair in which you sit,
       the book you’re reading,
       a pair of shoes kicked off by the door.
It cannot predict what comes next.
It cannot focus 
       on the next moment,
       the next day,
       the next year. 
There is no view forward.
 
The view backward … ah, that is rich. 
Tapestried with story,
it is illuminated with laughter,
       drenched in tears of every colour,
       drawn by the discipline of a lifetime’s practices,
       loves welcomed, 
              embraced, 
                     let go.
It knows the joys of accomplishment,
the realizations of defeat,
       bravery grounded, 
       stands taken,
       risks realized,
              and those forgotten.
The view backward is a lifetime long.
 
A lifetime long.
 
We ever and only 
stand in this less-than-a-moment 
between what was and what will be
weaving ourselves 
into that lasting tapestry 
- our backward view -
weaving ourselves into the memories
that are our own, 
but, in the end,
will be held and understood
only through the hearts of others
as we take our leave.

Nautilus shell slice.; dining room window. Photo: gretta vosper

In these challenging times, when we feel the overwhelming urge to react, respond, and sometimes, to yell at the world through the banging of our fingertips on a keyboard, let’s take that less-than-a-moment to ponder what is really going on within us. We’re feeling the shifts and changes taking place in the world. That’s all it is and we may like it or not.

Perhaps, as we more honestly live the truth that there are shifts and changes taking place in the world that may or may not be within our power to change, that we may or may not like, we might become more attentive to “what is going in within us”. Perhaps doing so might allow us to respond in each moment with an integrity that holds us to our values, to our own hearts, and to the future we choose to leave those who will come after us. What is within us is the only thing that can offer our best response to what is outside of us. And we must remember that it is we who, through our choices, through what we do with this, our one and only moment, create the world to come. That is our work. Our most important work.

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1. Forward Canada is currently raising awareness of the risks to Canada that would be raised by the loss of the CBC and is inviting Canadians (and others) to sign a petition and donate toward their work of supporting our national network.

2. Bluesky is an alternative to Twitter/X which I departed just after Musk purchased it. I have also left Facebook. Though I am not very active there, you can also find me on LinkedIn, as well.