You Get What You Pay For

I’ve been drawn to old things for as long as I can remember. As I child I dreamed of owning a classic British MG convertible and loved to watch Laurel and Hardy, the Little Rascals, and silent films.

The jazz revival in the mid-nineties was perfect for me because I had already been listening to artists like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Fats Waller for years. With a very few exceptions modern music stopped sounding good to me.

From the time I was in my late teens until just a few years ago I took it a step further and consciously unplugged from current popular culture. In my mind I was protesting a culture that I felt was empty, contrived, and driven by corporations' desire for only one reason - making money.

As I progressed through my thirties my love of old things continued and I started collecting vintage watches. Like many people, I was guilty of romanticizing the past. I somehow imagined that life that previous generations lived was better, easier, slower, less complicated, and happier. The truth is the past had its own collection of challenges: disease; economic, racial, and gender inequality; addiction; spousal abuse...the list goes on and on.

If I ever get to meet Woody Allen I’ll thank him profusely for causing a tremendous shift in my perception. A life changing awakening was triggered in me while watching his film, Midnight In Paris. The epiphany I had was this, each generation has its own struggles, stresses, and strife. By unplugging yourself from your current time and longing for the past you miss out on the geniuses of your time. Another tragic side effect of looking too much towards the past is you lose the ability to be conscious of, and enjoy the moment.

There’s something in our mammalian brains that tends to whitewash memories of past events. Maybe this phenomena was originally a mechanism for self preservation or to foster happiness in old age but now it only impedes our personal growth so it must somehow be put into perspective.

Take a moment and examine memories of your own past. There are few of us who don’t uncover at least a couple of fond memories about events or situations that might have been unpleasant or downright unhealthy while we were living through them.

The Universe is an amazing place, it provides us with lessons, in real time, nearly every moment of our existence. We can learn valuable lessons from friends, relatives, song lyrics, dreams, and even films.

The present moment can teach us many things, potentially everything. There’s only one caveat, we must be paying attention. Maybe we call it PAYING attention because it requires something of us and at times it’s difficult. It’s not always easy to filter out distractions and notice when our own brains are working against us. When you begin to focus your consciousness more on the present moment and realize the gifts NOW holds, you'll realize it's worth every effort to try.

(Gif sourced from giphy.com.)

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“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” ― Eckhart Tolle

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I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and Steemit enthusiast. I've had an active meditation practice for twenty-three years. To follow my unfolding story please visit my website here to sign up for my author newsletter for exclusive offers and updates on future projects.