Making (the) Present and Thriving in the Moment: Presenting the Future (Part 2)

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Presenting the Future (Part 2, 2001)

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Ways of making (the) present

In contrast to the above, what traces remain of processes associated with making the present? How is the present moment made and celebrated? The following carry aspects of this focus:

Happenings: These are a major social attractor, especially for young people. The way in which the term remains non-specific stresses the unforeseen nature of the experience. Some artists even seek to create such experiences -- although in doing so may edge into a form of commodifcation. Some of the ambiguity of the relationship to the moment is evident in the organization of parties and raves. Claiming that a happening is spntaneous is now part of the commodification of happenings.

Making love: This remains the most accessible approach to creating the present -- for those for whom it is possible. But curiously there is now confusion between the euphemism of "making it" and any form of social achievement in society.

Home-making: This complex process continues, necessarily, to be creatively focused on the present moment -- when it is not a form of slavery to obligations and past choices.

Shamanism: Current interest in shamans is a partial reflection of the ability of shamans to invoke the mystery of the moment. This is evident in other forms of trance, even charismatic speaking in tongues.

Making music: Certain forms of music and song seek to reframe the present (cf Coleman, 1996) -- although others forms may well be essentially a victim of commodification and imitation.

Making magic: The widespread interest in magic may focus very much on invoking the spirit of the moment. The ways in which the features of the present can be selected to enhance this have been well articulated by the Renaissance figure Marsilio Ficino (1433-99) who headed the Florentine Academy (motto: Laetus in Praesens [Joy in the Present])

Public relations spin: This technique of image building for the moment is effectively a form of modern magic -- usually deployed for dubious ends. However it is indeed a means to spin present reality.

Escapism: It might be argued that any form of escapism is a means of creating an acceptable present. In this sense tourism and the leisure industry offer major opportunities -- most of which are increasingly packaged and commodified. They may also be understood as symptoms of fear of present experience, especially when distance from that experience is ensured by photography.

Narcotic drugs: Use of a variety of substances, including alcohol, clearly offers a major opportunity for many to experience the present free from the commodification otherwise imposed upon it. Ironically this can only be achieved by purchase of these substances as commodities.

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