The Power of Not Now

I am always impressed by the people and teachers who are living “in the Now.” It must be a lovely place to be, but I always miss it by a few seconds, or I’m daydreaming about something interesting and then scolding myself afterwards. In fact, being in the Now is getting harder and harder as I notice just how closely the past packs up against it on one side and the future crashes in on the other. If, as various Good Books tell us, both past and future are illusory, I will have to become an increasingly thin person to wedge myself in between the two of them. Some people even say that there is no “now,” any more than there is an actual edge to the ever moving ocean on the beach. Now keeps slipping away from me, like a mosquito I’m trying to slap, but all I hit is myself.

Given how much of a problem the Now actually is, I am ditching “Nowism” and taking up a new philosophy of living in the “Not Now.” It seems so much more achievable. Having had this revelation, I realise how much I am there already. When I think about doing the dishes or tedious paper work the first words that spring to mind are “not now” – always. The tremendous power of Not Now is in our most basic instincts. Children, perhaps because of their innocence and propensity for joy, are natural masters at living in the Not Now, especially when asked to clean up their rooms or finish their homework. My bank, I have noticed, is fully in the Now when it comes to making deductions from my account, but is in a much more healthy Not Now of “three to five more business days” when it comes to crediting me my money. Not Now makes the world go round.

I wonder if it is possible to live in the Not Now more deliberately and fully. Not Now for answering every email within thirty minutes, Not Now for organizing my day perfectly, and Not Now for the damn filing. Would anybody really notice? Think of the ramifications though if this caught on. If we all – I mean every single one of us – lived in the Not Now. For a start, capitalism would totter and fall, not because we took to the streets and threw things at the police, but precisely because we stayed home, and stayed, and stayed, and basked in the Not Now. Probably the cops would would appreciate the change of pace too. And just as the air is clearing up all over the world during this whole coronavirus thing, it would certainly do the same under a regimen of Not Now. And the oceans would also get a break if, unlike me so far, we apply Not Now to all the needless crap we buy on Amazon, with all its needless packaging. Admittedly, that’s a work in progress.

And then, as the emails, phone messages, dishes and pieces of paper pile up, we could all go downstairs, sit out on the stoops of our houses and apartment buildings, and celebrate the Not Now together. We could listen to podcasts and even each other, and as spiritual beings having a human experience, we could duck the Now and see if it wants to follow us. Maybe it’s lonely and wants some company. Ah, I’m beginning to feel the relax already.