On analysing my schedule and where my focus lies throughout the day, her mind reminded me of a bright palette – a responsible freedom – a poignant liberation – a lingering expression.

No regrets, but my schedule is a focused black dot on a blank canvas.

Understanding Decisions

We have grown up thinking about life as a journey – from point A to point B – from past to present and through into the future. This expects one to carry a baggage of past promises, expects one to live up to them irrespective of the present context and loads it up more for the future, just in case.

A battlefield commander takes spot decisions.
Quite like a poet who changes words if the wind turns colder.

Our life changing decisions, presuming they haven’t been taken under a past obligation, are based in the light of present developments. We (though subconsciously) live in the moment. If a pre-planned strategy fails, we come up with an alternative. Military commanders, politicians, writers, performers and cooks take decisions and switch paths based on what is happening now – irrespective of what has been said and done in the past.

While the belief of a life as a journey keeps being endorsed,
we have always been living it right here and now.

Life is a Present Experience, Not a Journey

What of the goals, then? What of the desire to ‘travel’ from one state in life to another? Don’t we visualise a goal in life, the mountain peak, and trudge on towards making it a ‘reality’? Our long term goals might be materialistic at times, but they often revolve around prosperity and happiness. These aspects attach themselves to multiple situations – whether one should continue with the current employment role or not – whether one should continue practicing an art or not – whether to be with one’s family or not.

As we work hard towards our desires and goals of a certain imagined well-being, we introduce these ‘additions’ into our surroundings – thus leading to a magnificent change over a period of time. While we may always call life a journey, since that is how we best understand it, it is more like an evolving imagination taking shape before our eyes – and our ever-evolving perception of the same.

Baggage exists for learning lessons, not to add weight.

Sharp turns are alright.

How We Spend Our Days

Quoting Annie Dillard – “There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet.”

It is clear that how we perceive our days and how we allow ourselves to experience the ample joy around decides our well being. It might be her journey across the high seas inside, or my toiling at a smithy – it is the spirit behind the hard work that counts.

And the vision, that takes us beyond.

—

Words: Sushrut Munje