It’s an interesting exercise to consider how much time you spend with thoughts about the future. Most of us like to do a little planning, and even wishful thinking, about what’s coming up next. But at a time like this it’s hard to say what will be going on next year, next month, or even next week.  

For us, future thoughts are mostly about our daughter’s wedding in October. Planning that kind of event truly requires future thinking.  Other than that we have no plans.  We have things we would like to do, like trips to see friends and family. But it feels premature to make concrete plans that aren’t absolutely necessary.  

The future has never been a guarantee, yet we have taken it as if it is.  This pandemic has really brought home the idea of uncertainty.  But what if it has also provided us a gift? What if we all took this opportunity to focus on the present, instead of the uncertainty of the future? A reboot of the brain to stay closer to the now.  Concentrating on the day we are in, and trying not to stray too far from the moment  The present is the gift.  The gift is the present.

Today

Today I’m flying low and I’m not saying a word.

I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,

the bees in the garden rumbling a little,

the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten

and so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.

Quiet as a feather.

I hardly move though really I’m traveling a terrific distance.

Stillness – one of the doors into the temple.

–Mary Oliver