Is “Being in the Moment” Really All That?

10 min readNov 26, 2020

Engagement and acceptance are what matter; not the timeline

For the past seven years, I have seasonally worked in a job where the best performers exemplify “being in the moment”. I plant trees. We (me and my fellow tree planters) are paid on a piecework basis, by the tree. Our income depends on using each and every one of our “here and now” moments to plant a tree. Bugs biting — plant a tree. Step over log — plant a tree. Beautiful eagle — plant a tree. Ugly bog — plant a tree. Every moment is about taking in the sensory data of the “here and now” — the terrain felt through a work boot, the branch near an eye, the tree grabbed from a planting bag, the rhythm of the breath — to optimize planting a tree with every available moment. One step after another the day goes by. One tree planted becomes a few hundred trees planted, and by day’s end a few thousand trees are planted. Abstract measurements of time become meaningless. Time becomes “time to plant”, “time to eat”, “time to drive back” and “time to sleep”. A job is finished when there is no more land awaiting trees and no more trees are waiting to be planted. A season is finished when there are no more jobs.

When I explain my job, many of those that idolize the state of “mindfulness” point out how healthful it must be. I am immersed in “the only reality we can know”, in “the here and now”. I acknowledge I have received many benefits from learning to be in this state. It has especially taught me how to be comfortable in my own head-space and body. But there is also a sense in which I am dissociated from reality while planting trees. We planters speak of “returning to reality” after the planting season is over. We rejoin “normal life”. We participate in the reality of watching TV, texting,rushing to appointments, and planning adventures. This is the reality that the rest of the world shares daily, and we crave participating in it.

One planting season my work friend commented on how planting left him feeling so much “in the moment” that he was losing track of seeing his future. He feared permanently losing touch with his future self. He felt that “being in the moment” was overrated. The same friend once commented that he knew someone who was perfectly in the moment whenever they snorted cocaine. I got his point at the time, but also chalked up his comments to needing a break from planting trees. In the five years since I had that conversation, I have gone to therapy, explored the work of many philosophers, and (perhaps most importantly) had many more conversations with really interesting people about their own philosophies. I now believe that the usefulness of being in the moment is limited by three things: 1) The “here and now” is in fact not any more real than any other place or time, 2) reality is not inherently better than the world of imagination, and 3) how we engage with the process of living (whether with our past, present or future) matters more than the “when” of the moment itself.

Is there really a “here and now?”

Proponents of the “here and now” often reason that the only moment we have and the only place we can be is the moment and space we currently occupy. This is reality and everything else is imagination. This attitude not only undervalues imagination (I’ll tackle this a bit later)but also does not accurately affect what we know about the universe or the human mind.

Einstein once said, “Space and time are not conditions of existence, time and space are models of thinking.” This can be a difficult concept to wrap our heads around, as we have a shared experience of where things are in space and also constantly use the concept of time to coordinate actions and to organize our life experience into discrete events. Space and time certainly feel real. But the theory of relativity shows that what “now” is for us is very different than what “now” is in a galaxy so far away it is nearly undetectable with our best telescopes. As physicist Brian Greene puts it, “Every moment is as real as any other. Every ‘now’, when you say, ‘This is the real moment,’ is as real as any other ‘now’ — and therefore all the moments are just out there. Just as every moment in space is out there, I think every moment in time is out there, too.” This quote makes me feel much in the same way as one feels looking out onto a vast ocean — deliciously small in a world of endless possibility. Not only is there more space than we can ever explore, but there are more (very real) “now” moments than we can ever possibly know.

I can hear your objections. You are saying, “This may be the truth about time according to physics, but it is not the truth about how I experience time.” And you are right. As Kant observed over a hundred years before the discovery of Einstein’s theory of relativity, “Space and time are the framework within which the mind is constrained to construct its experience of reality”. I am not arguing that we experience the present as distinct from the past or the future. I am also not arguing that our construct of the “present” is the only time we can physically experience with our senses. The past and the future are times we experience solely through our thoughts and imagination. What I am arguing is that the physical experience of “now” is not inherently more valuable or useful than the imaginative experience of our past and our future.

The Value of Imagination

Imagination allows us to conceive things that don’t yet exist, to understand what does exist in new ways, and to glimpse things impossible to perceive with our senses alone (such as the thoughts of others). It is valued by scientists, philosophers, artists of all kinds, and inventors. The value of our imagination lies in that it is not part of the “here and now”. I’ll have you ponder another Einstein quote: “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” The reason knowledge is limited is that it relies solely upon our own senses or what others have learned through their own senses. Knowledge alone does not allow for expansion and growth.

But imagination is not only useful for creating and understanding things in new ways. It is also a powerful tool for aiding our physical and mental health and is used in many spiritual traditions that we frequently associate with “mindfulness”. Athletes and entertainers visualize (or imagine) successful future performances thus increasing their chances of success. Scientific research supports that the act of writing detailed goals significantly increases your chances of meeting them. Yogis use creative visualization to prepare for future actions, to find a place of relaxation within themselves, and to create goals. Gratitude exercises (shown to be very beneficial for psychological well-being)can involve remembering (which is really a type of imagining a former experience) happy past events.

I want you to consider how Eastern -based mindfulness traditions (such as Buddhism) value ego transcendence. The Ego is that part of our psyches that we are consciously aware of. It is a mental model of our identity that we often conflate with our true Self (that which encompasses our whole being, conscious and unconscious). When we over-identify with the ego we fail to see our wholeness, and also our full capacity. Now consider this quote from Vincent VanGogh, who may have been exploring ego transcendence from his stance as an artist living in the Western world, “Do not quench your inspiration and imagination. Do not become a slave to your model.” To paraphrase: Imagination can be a tool to enable you to realize your full capacity beyond your identity model, or Ego.

There are some types of imagining the past and future that have long been regarded by spiritual traditions and more recently by the scientific study of psychology as being harmful to the self. Two well known examples are clinging to the past, whether it’s by ruminating over a past “negative” event or not being able to accept that a past state we viewed as “positive” has ended or changed; and worrying, which is essentially a type of imagining about an undesirable future. However, since the concept of mindfulness and its spiritual cousin simplicity have become popular in the press, some have warned that we must not allow future planning to interfere with our goal of being in the “here and now” as if the two activities are mutually exclusive. I believe they are conflating being conscious, aware or “present” with only attending to things that are happening in the “present” moment.

Engagement and Acceptance — The Keys to Well-being

There are good reasons that many equate mindfulness with being in the present moment. Mindfulness traditions frequently state the importance of being in the present moment. Quotes from the Buddha on mindfulness (such as those found on this website) abound with quotes such as this: “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”. However, I think the essence of the meaning behind the importance of being in the present is more aptly described by another quote which is attributed to the Buddha, “If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep walking.” To know if one is facing in the right direction, one must plan where to go and understand the steps to getting there. This involves planning. But the process of getting anywhere involves taking one step at a time in the present moment. It is important to be engaged in the process, which is always a present-tense activity. You could be engaged in a typically “here and now” activity such as washing the dishes, conversing with a friend, practising a skill or taking a walk. You could also be “present” and engaged writing about your past, evaluating your performance, planning the next steps in your career or thinking of how (or if) you might spend your retirement when you are older. What matters is that you treat everything you do with attention and care. You consciously choose what you do in each moment. Working out your household budget with your partner is a conscious, thoughtful choice. Half-listening to your child while you worry about what if you lose your job is unconsciously allowing your imagination to rob your time and emotional energy. Lovingly compiling a book of family stories is an act of self-awareness and sharing. Wondering “what if” you had married someone else while failing to notice the kindness of your current spouse is life rejecting.

Another important component of mindfulness that is tied to the present moment (yet can be part of both future planning and remembering what has already happened) is acceptance of what is. One of the toughest things to accept is, in the words of the Buddha, “Nothing is forever except change”. No amount of pining for “the good old days” will bring back a friend, a job, or your twenty-something appearance. Similarly, your past “bad luck” in no way guarantees a doomed future. Another thing we all must accept is that we can plan carefully and work diligently toward a goal only to have the unforeseeable put a fork in the road. The entirety of 2020 has been a lesson in this for most people as proms were cancelled, businesses closed and vacations were indefinitely postponed. This doesn’t mean we should all stop making plans. But it does mean we need to accept that the future is not guaranteed and we must adapt to what is. Better yet, we can stop labelling what has happened, is happening, or may happen as “good” or “bad”. We can try to see all moments as simply happenings and engage with them in a way that is kind to our self and others.

Every Moment, No Matter “When”, Is Precious

Instead of focusing on being in the moment, maybe we should focus on treating all of thoughts, feelings and actions; our memories and our dreams with attention and care. We can aspire to a lifelong journey of living more fully. We can accept our pasts as part of us but not the defining part of us. We can have great aspirations but accept (with some humour) that planning is like writing a choose your own adventure book that accepts unlimited entries from the universe, which makes things pretty fun! And yes, we can accept all of the small blessings of the moment. It is our conscious engagement that makes it all count.