Does living in the present moment means being inactive?

Submitted by SnowCode in offmychest

I am becoming always more nihilist, but I don't want to be depressed, I want to be active.

I want to live NOW and stop waiting for "Tha Future", but on the other hand, I don't want to accept the present moment, I want to escape and thrive for a commune or something like that. I somehow cannot make actions I feel blocked.

I feel like living in the present moment also means being inactive and accepting this society. But I don't think I want that :(

I want to build my world, I want to make my life better. I want to help people around me and I want to become always more free, but I have no fucking clue on how to do it.

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lettuceLeafer wrote

I navigate this by my practices in working towards be a future goal be enjoyable. I'm still working on it but I usually get excited about a thing I'm working on and then do it in a fun way. Most things if u try n do it a different way u can make it fun and enjoyable.

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existential1 wrote

This duality you've constructed of "present moment | activity level" is a mental border you don't actually need and doesn't have to be there if you don't want it to be.

I'd recommend Lietzu if you wanna read some Taoist stuff about this. Many stories in that book deal with the concept of, "If you have time to think about what you're doing, you're not doing the thing. And once you think about what you're going to do, you can no longer do it."

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flingwingin wrote

this is silly

you can think about doing something tomorrow, then go do it

planning is a part of being human, and its fun and imagination is cool

fuck westoid eastern mysticism like fucking 99% of the time it's just covert brainwashing tactics to make you docile and uncritical

real daoism is dialectical anyways, fuck this basic one dimensional shit. action and thought yo. they go together and help each other out, but are separated temporally

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existential1 wrote (edited )

fuck westoid eastern mysticism like fucking 99% of the time it's just covert brainwashing tactics to make you docile and uncritical

Lietzu | Liezi from the 4th/5th century BC..."westoid eastern mysticism". What are you on about?

In particular, stories like "20: The man who could walk through fire" or "48: The man who tried to move the mountains" or "62: Effort argues with Destiny". (All groupings here are from Eva Wong's version)

Even using a preface like "real" with daoism next strikes me as strange.

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flingwingin wrote

your brain on westoid eastern mysticism

(ok sorry i was harsh and i'm just shitposting on you, but fr i think there's a certain reading of the materials which is besides the point of what they literally say - im not denying what you talk about exists in daoist tests - though also daoism is like a broad as fuck thing which has been around for a long time and gathered tons of weird shit - i'm just saying that 100% western leftists will draw out certain ideas from the texts that from what i can see are less than main points at best, or just bad interpretations of the meaning or context, and they almost always serve to further docility and social control)

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flingwingin wrote

duuuude hey i get you

  1. lettuce has the way

  2. there are two kinds of living in the present that emerge, but post-left people bring up living in the present without really distinguishing - one is living anarchy now, acting on every desire RIGHT NOW with total nihilism, embrace the void, be ready to die by cop or go to prison or whatever, but go out like harrison bergeron ig. The other is the response to this basically unattainable first type, and it's to just "be in the present" by refusing to plan for the future, always seeking immediate comfort, validation, good feels, etc. and aggressively call out anyone who is thinking about the future or trying to change the world at all. This second type is a horrible horrible brainwashed liberalism tbh. It's shit. It's the devil.

On the practical side, it's good to smell the roses every once in a while. Work out and/or have sex often to keep in touch with your body. Ask urself if you're observing the world, or just observing what is observing the world, and get yourself out of abstract contemplation and into observation and contemplation on your surroundings and moment. It's nice. But it shouldnt be an imposition and its definitely not the only way to live.

But you basically have the answer already - you want to not wait for the future, and you want to not be inactive and accept this society - ok, in this moment do what you can to work towards a better society. This probably means sitting and planning, then carrying out what u think up. Pretty simple ig. Don't get stuck in the need for immediate payoff - the future exists, you will be there (and you wont be some totally different person), and you will be grateful for your past efforts if you work for long-term goals.

glhf

i could say how i think you could help people, make world better, become more free, but idk if this is the place for it and its a process. TBH i think no one has the answers until they're able to reach out to you offline and entangle you in a network of anarchist mutual aid and counter-economy and stuff

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SnowCode OP wrote

The thing is that I don't want to be in prison or die by a cop. Why is the second type so bad? I don't want to change the world because I know I can't, but I want to change my environment anyway.

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flingwingin wrote

i was tryna say theyre both bad, idk if that got across

like posties have this super radical critique and want to live as anarchs RIGHT NOW, but doing this will lead to consequences most can't handle (like smh good ol benzo renzo died in a shootout with cops), so they cope by saying "i'm doing what i want" but only doing the things they want which are in line with the dominant establishment's view of what's right - it's a life ruled by fear and at best it's just not radical at all (and i only bring this up because they seem to think they're enlightened egoist ubermenschen for doing what they want, when it's literally what the system is designed for).

also changing your environment is changing the world... unless you mean change which environment you're in, in which case fml why am i tryna give advice to a social ladder climbing leftist tryna just build more privilege fuck that, fuck the state, and fuck it's bribes. But i dont think thats what ur saying so idk. Like there's shit you can do which allows for you to change things and make shit better, but no one is asking you to be a whole social movement in one person and revolutionize the whole world and bring down all states. Tbh that's like almost always a strawman of revolutionary arguments that passive nihilists (aka BASIC LIBERAL SUBJECTs) bring up in order to justify having 0 solidarity and 0 compassion and just "focusing on myself"

anyways anyways im not trying to criticize you here, i just wanted to answer why posties say to live in the moment, and why it looks to you that living in the moment means being inactive - it's cause people coping with the facts of the state and a lack of nihilism

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Garbear104 wrote

Because it doesn't further anarchism, only personal pleasure. It ls pretty selfish tbh. Worlds been changed alot before. Because people did shit. If you arent willing to do shit then what do you expect? The state to just roll over? No point pretending to care about those trampled if the most your willing to do is just not plan and larp for change

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SnowCode OP wrote (edited )

Yes but on the other hand, I won't change the world. I am just one individual among a lot of others. Why would focus on your own happiness be selfish? Helping others can make you happy as well.

Why couldn't it further anarchism? It all depends on what you do. If someone wants to let's say be an hermit, is that selfish (they should be free to do so and they don't participate in the capitalist society, I guess)?

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flingwingin wrote

not garbear, but tbh i do think that if you come from this society and want to become a hermit, that's selfish. I wouldn't dream of trying to stop someone though, and i'd be happy one person at least got out, but i do think it's worthy of moral condemnation to run away and leave everyone else in the same shit situation. But yeah idk we don't have any duties to each other or to lift everyone up - especially not against their own ability and wishes - but it's still morally broke imo. Like fuck the hermit, have some solidarity, we're still fucked over in here. Not everyone has the privilege to be a hermit. Or if it's not a privilege thing, have some solidarity n help others get out of the system. Fuck hermits

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