21 votes

Does anyone else feel like it's really weird to be right here in the moment?

It feels so strange. I am right here in time. Not in the past, when I screwed up some stuff. Not in the future when I'll be living somehow, whether like a good adult or somehow else. It just feels strange to be so aware of it. So aware of the moment, of the fact that I am currently typing stuff into a textbox on a website, hoping someone else relates to this feeling.

11 comments

  1. mrbig
    Link
    Awareness of the present moment is a goal in itself and many people spend years in meditation practice to achieve something that came naturally to you. Don’t worry so much. Instead, play with your...

    Awareness of the present moment is a goal in itself and many people spend years in meditation practice to achieve something that came naturally to you.

    Don’t worry so much. Instead, play with your dog. Make love. Eat delicious food. Be grateful for the ability to experience life unimpeded.

    10 votes
  2. Miroona
    Link
    Rather than weird, blissful would probably be a bit closer to the word I'd use.

    Rather than weird, blissful would probably be a bit closer to the word I'd use.

    5 votes
  3. wervenyt
    Link
    It's weird, but what isn't? Life is beautiful, and it's awesome that you're present for it.

    It's weird, but what isn't? Life is beautiful, and it's awesome that you're present for it.

    4 votes
  4. [3]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    It's not weird to be right here in this moment. It's commonplace. We're all right here in this moment, all the time. Where/When else could we be?

    It's not weird to be right here in this moment. It's commonplace. We're all right here in this moment, all the time. Where/When else could we be?

    4 votes
    1. mrbig
      Link Parent
      It’s certainly obvious, but actually feeling it without the constant subconscious pressure of past and future is not as common as it seems.

      It’s certainly obvious, but actually feeling it without the constant subconscious pressure of past and future is not as common as it seems.

      9 votes
    2. Omnicrola
      Link Parent
      I think OP is describing the awareness of it, rather than simply the fact that they do in fact, exist right now. I often am not "here". Thinking about what I need to do later, it tomorrow....

      I think OP is describing the awareness of it, rather than simply the fact that they do in fact, exist right now.

      I often am not "here". Thinking about what I need to do later, it tomorrow. Worrying about that thing I said yesterday, the choices I made last week or years ago. Learning to not focus on those things is hard, but it's paying off slowly.

      6 votes
  5. [3]
    Kuromantis
    (edited )
    Link
    Yes, it feels like we're living through so much and we have no idea what the result will be. A long list of stuff we're living through or are nearing We are living in the greatest pandemic since...

    Yes, it feels like we're living through so much and we have no idea what the result will be.

    A long list of stuff we're living through or are nearing
    • We are living in the greatest pandemic since influenza in the end of WW1 which
      along with exceptional mismanagement has caused the greatest economic disturbance since the great depression,

    • Climate change is a decade away from becoming irreversible,

    • US wages have been stagnant for 5 decades straight,

    • Democratic backsliding is threatening the US

    • Whose political reality has been basically split into conservative TV media, moderate TV media and progressive online media

    • The president of the United States has suggested people drink bleach to cure the virus, that people should be jailed for peacefully protesting, has justified opposing mail in ballots in the middle of said pandemic by saying "voting is an honor"

    • Most tech companies are increasing surveillance and some are cooperating with the government

    • Most social media companies are allowing conspiracy theories, hate speech and more to spread around their platforms with minimal moderation

    • The alt-right and fascism are gaining popularity unseen since the 1930s

    • Some religious institutions have gone reactionary in response to increasing disinterest from the youth

    • The second most powerful nation in the world is basically an Orwellian surveillance state

    • Deepfakes are likely within a decade of becoming as convincing as real video

    EDIT (22/07/2020)

    • Trump has assembled an unmarked police force to suppress protests

    Living through all of this and having no idea as to what the end result will be is super weird. Feels like we're in the 1910s or 20s or something.

    4 votes
    1. Turtle
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Don't you think that's rather optimistic? I'm assuming you mean catastrophic levels of climate change btw. In any case I think we're long past reversing climate change.

      Climate change is a decade away from becoming irreversible,

      Don't you think that's rather optimistic? I'm assuming you mean catastrophic levels of climate change btw. In any case I think we're long past reversing climate change.

      3 votes
    2. Amarok
      Link Parent
      The price of technology is coming home to roost. Move fast, break things indeed. I find it somewhat inspiring that humanity stood up, went outside, and shook all that off like a bad case of fleas...

      The price of technology is coming home to roost. Move fast, break things indeed.

      I find it somewhat inspiring that humanity stood up, went outside, and shook all that off like a bad case of fleas at least for a while. That phone belongs in your pocket, not taped to your face. :D

      1 vote
  6. MonkeyPants
    Link
    Also think, that when you type those funny little squiggles, your thoughts are then transmitted into strangers brains. I've spent more than a few conference calls, marvelling at how we flap our...

    Also think, that when you type those funny little squiggles, your thoughts are then transmitted into strangers brains.

    I've spent more than a few conference calls, marvelling at how we flap our meat to squirt out sounds, and that process transmits thoughts from one mind to other minds. The one who is most eloquent at flapping their meat is the one who is most effective at changing the thoughts at others.

    And that is how you become a manager. And then that is all you ever do. All day. Is flap your meat, and type squiggles when others are flapping their meat.

    3 votes
  7. Silbern
    Link
    Yeah actually! I was petting my cat the other day and literally contemplating this exact thing. While it comes naturally most of the time, it's so weird to think that everything I'm visually...

    Yeah actually! I was petting my cat the other day and literally contemplating this exact thing. While it comes naturally most of the time, it's so weird to think that everything I'm visually seeing is just a bunch of light waves at a very narrow set of frequencies; that everything I can hear is just the motion of air molecules bouncing off each other. There's no past or future, just a specific collection of atoms at a particular point in time. That there's 7 billion other humans, and god knows how many other forms of life on this planet, all sensing and existing in there own right, at the same time, all of us limited to our own perspective and perceptions. It's really hard to explain through text without sounding like a new age hippy or something haha, but it's really trippy and kind of mind bending to think about, how everything lives and exists together.

    3 votes