It's moving more slowly than I might like, but I'm learning how to live in the present. I spend a little more time in the future than I probably should and I'm less comfortable in the past than I'd like to be, but those can wait.

2015-06-15e Past-present-future balance – index card #balance

I tend to do a lot of planning and anticipation: rough sketches of just-in-case scenarios, extrapolations of ideas and potential decisions. There's a lot of waiting for some experiments, too. Can't rush the seeds growing in the garden, can't accelerate the learning, can't jump ahead to see the results.

In a sense, I could, if I let the time in between blur instead of slowing it down even more with experiences and reflections. I get the sense that "passing time" is what leads to people waking up and wonder where their life went, though. Better to kick off more parallel experiments and explore more questions.

I'm making myself keep a list of things that I'm not thinking about yet: things that are too far-off or uncertain, things that are waiting for other things. It's tempting to spend time thinking about those things – that seems more useful than simply playing games – but it can be counterproductive.

Better to live each moment, then, even if it makes life feel slow, too. It's good to learn how to be, instead of just distracting myself with juggling as many plans as I can.

What is it like? Napping when I'm sleepy, eating when I'm hungry, cooking for the joy of it, reading for pleasure, even playing games. Stretching out on the deck in the sunlight. Enjoying the seedlings for what they are, instead of wondering if they'll make it all the way to becoming vegetables in a garden of caterpillars and squirrels. This present will pass, too, so I may as well enjoy it.

Besides, the present might be all I have someday, when the future is short and the past is fuzzy. Might as well learn how to live it!