June 27, 2010 – Last night we went to see, hear and experience the Furthur concert in Coney Island. Furthur, for those who don’t know, is the current incarnation of the Grateful Dead. Let me begin by saying that the show was phenomenal. Truly great music, high energy and total synergy between the band and the audience.
The music is not however the topic of this blog.
Rather, I’d like to share with you some of the experiences of the show: Specifically the idea of living in the moment as opposed to the more heodonic living for the moment.
During the break between the two sets of music (yes, Furthur continues the Dead’s format of two long sets of music) a friend’s 20 year old son shared with us some of his eye-opening, mind expanding realizations about life which were his takeaways from reading The Secret. Talking with him brought back memories of my own exuberance at his age, and that of my generation, from grokking the concepts of Stranger in a Strange Land, from cheering the Bokononism of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels and from grasping the philosophy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Yes, there is a purpose to be gleaned from life. And yes, often we can miss the signposts. Mindfulness and awareness of the moment are the keys to living a full life.
Yet we all have our moments of forgetting this principle.
While dancing to the familiar music last night, I fought the temptation to predict what song the band would segue into, or to compare this night’s version of the songs with those I’d heard in the past. Instead I stayed in the moment and savored each note and each riff. The importance of the concert was not to step out of the experience and predict or compare to past events. The goal was to be in the moment of the music.
The realization of the importance of living in the moment as an experiential modality was one of my takeaways from my readings when I was 20. What was true then is as true today. Relish the moment even as you plan and set goals for the future.
Consider the possibilities.
Adam J. Krim www.driveconsulting.net
