My friend, sexy beast, a.k.a. Joshua Hooper, introduced me to The Power of Now a while ago. I discounted it as new age psycho babel.
But then I remembered Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation. The tapes she listened to, while in that hotel room, while waiting for her husband.
Eckart Tolle speaks very slowly. The inflections in his voice are slight. Almost monotonous. Calming.
I yawned.
I listened.
My ego flinched. It rationalized that this book is bunk. How can someone live in the present? What about planning? How do you disregard nurture and identity in everyday life? We’re all the same? How do you distinguish ourselves, if not for our achievements, our status, our looks and everything around us? This is bunk.
Without the ego, there would be no self consciousness, no snobbishness. Much like great advice on how to be social, Eckart asks me to leave my ego at the door. Except this door isn’t just the entrance to a tech conference or some networking event.
Emotionally, I can relate to Charlotte (Scarlett). Young. Smart. And an overuse of “potential” when adults talk about me.
It’s an interesting paradigm. The Power of Now. It’s a door you have to walk through.
