Learning from Yesterday – Living in Today – Planning for Tomorrow

We talk a lot about presence. About breathing into the moment, being here now, not letting the past or the future steal what’s in front of us. And that’s real. Presence is powerful. It’s what allows us to taste the meal, feel the hug, hear the music fully instead of just registering that it happened. But I think we forget something just as important: we can live in the now and still plan for the later. One doesn’t cancel the other out.

Too many people fall into the trap of choosing sides. Either they chase the moment like it’s the only thing that matters – impulsive, wild, reactive – or they grip the future so tightly they miss everything unfolding around them. And when you live at either extreme, you end up hollow. One leaves you scattered. The other leaves you frozen.

The truth is, life isn’t either/or. It’s both/and. We’re meant to revel in the present while also planting seeds for the future. That’s not a contradiction: it’s balance.

I’ve seen what happens when someone lives only for the next high, the next hit of inspiration, the next moment of beauty. It’s exhilarating, until it isn’t. Until the rent’s late or the body breaks down or the community drifts because no one built structure around the love. And I’ve seen what happens when someone builds a five-year plan with military precision but forgets to look up and laugh. They might hit every milestone, but they never feel alive in it. Just tired. Just chasing.

What I’ve learned, and what we try to practice in our Community, is that the Universe gives us kairos, not just chronos. Opportune moments, not just chronological time. But to even see a moment of kairos when it arrives, we have to be awake and ready. Presence teaches us to see. Planning teaches us to act.

So when do we gather? When do we build – when do we dream? We do it in unison. We eat the fruit of now and we save the seeds. We don’t call it rigid structure; we call it intention. We don’t call it reckless freedom; we call it surrender. Because it’s not about controlling everything. It’s about being ready for what the Universe is trying to hand you.

So breathe. Be here. Laugh when it’s funny. Cry when it’s real. And then sit with your calendar, your sketchpad, your blueprint, and dare to plan for a future worth walking into.

We don’t need to pick a side. We need to dance between them.

The Universe Provides.
And We Revel Within.