Welcome to The Door to E. A series-style newsletter for people obsessed with exploring, explaining, and expanding ideas to unlock human potential. Each week, I publish around 3 chosen series that share ideas, experiences, and stories to help you design your life.
This essay is a part of the Practical Philosophy Friday series.
Thank you for reading, and please forward this to anyone who you think needs to walk on the journey.
Dear Friends, Seekers, and Everyone else
I'm all tired and sweaty as I write this, and as you'd notice I'm sending this on a Saturday because I got blown out of my mind trying to make sense of this piece.
So without an unnecessary build-up or fancy questions or quotes to go by
Let's just see what the heck does a pink shirt have to do with a moment in life.
The Pink Shirt Saga
3 days ago I was walking down the main street, on my usual running path. trying to run away from my thoughts for a while.
I was particularly stressed and mentally exhausted that day. Enough to have wanted to shut everything off, grab my pocket notebook, a pen and my phone... I just stormed off from home in the hopes that running would exhaust my body and I would at the very least, sleep peacefully at night.
But even on the run, my mind kept wandering, doing things and running different scenarios of what I could have done and what I'd done wrong.
So in an attempt to not think about this, I pulled out my pocket notebook and started making random notes, which after a while just became a game of me trying to record "how many people were wearing pink shirts or tops on my route including me"
Later for the duration of my walk, I was just focused on finding pink shirts on the street.
I found 27 of them.
But the point isn't those pink shirts, but what it did for me at that time.
At that moment, the past and future seized to exist, making things.
You are dead in the past and future
Our life is made up of 3 events - past, present, and future. But the one we live in, the one where we experience things about life, and the one that makes our future is the present.
And a lot of us don't live in it, because we are either in the grip of the past mulling over it, or in the case of a future that we don't even know exists yet.
This becomes especially dangerous when you deal with stuff like anxiety and depression. You don't even have to think of these extreme, simple things like pressure to get good grades or not making any mistakes, even something like that can ruin your relationship with time and attention.
I've learned this the hard way
but if you live in the past - You are dead
If you live for the future - You are dead
The only proof that you exist as a living being is - right now.
You can't touch, breathe, or use things in the past, it's not possible to go back to those past moments, nor is it possible to go to a path you haven't seen in the future.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift, that is why it is called THE PRESENT ~ Oogway, Kung Fu Panda.
We became so attracted to the idea of advancement that we forgot to look at the time we live in, we move fast and without consideration of what the fast movement is doing to us.
Because sooner or later, when we lose the sense of moment, we lose a sense of self... and we crash.
So in reality, the only way to define life is with an equation that has the NOW or THE MOMENT that you are experiencing right now, else it is meaningless.
How to use the Moment
To improve performance: A lot of this thinking comes from the philosophy of flow. If you think about doing something, you will mess it up and it's happened to me on more than one occasion.
To avoid worrying, listen to sounds: I learned this practice when I was trying to find ways to mitigate anxiety attacks. Anxiety happens because you start thinking too much, so to avoid that, start by trying to listen to 5 sounds in your environment, count them down, and make mental notes. This pulls you into the present
Take one thing at a time: Multitasking isn't productive, but it also messes up the mental rhythm. Sometimes you may have multiple things that are important and need to be done by the same deadline, you should still set priorities and go down the list one thing at a time. Trying to squeeze multiple projects into one-time frame will not only mess up the tasks but you as well
Use your senses: When you start focusing on the details instead of just the task as a whole, it sets a mood for the brain to divert energy to one thing. What should it look like vs what it looks like right now? What sounds does it make? What reactions do you get? Asking stuff like this places a filter on perception of time and takes energy away from it, by placing you in the present.
When in confusion, get bored: Taking a break isn't a bad thing. Get bored on purpose, being bored increases awareness of interests and skills, you can go as far as saying - it makes you sensitive to your mind and expands the moment you experience. Ever felt what it’s like sitting in a class that you don't enjoy? It feels like it's not ending right - this is what happens.
Accept ignorance: Do you remember what you had for breakfast? Or Do you remember what you did 10 minutes ago? Do you remember what your partner told you that one time while you were enjoying lunch? This isn't out of the ordinary... because there are time you get lost in your thoughts, and you lose present experience. Things, events and people pass by you without you even noticing them. The only way to deal with this is to realize that this will happen and counter it with your surroundings. You can find 5 things touch, taste, hear, smell, and see. It'll jolt you back into the moment.
Final Words
Most people at this point assume they should forget the past and not think about the future, that's far from it.
The point is to not fixate on them, the attachment you have towards your past or your future ruins your present moment.
Be the moment.
until next time
Be weird and curiosity
S
P.S. If you are interested in info products and building an information-led creator business, check out Wide Thinker Letters. Series issues go out every Sunday.
If you haven't already, subscribe to the newsletter and hop on the learning journey with me to unlock your potential.