Dancing in the Here and Now

Sam and Christine finally close out The Courage to Be Disliked, and it's the piece that landed hardest for Sam. The philosopher's claim that life isn't a straight line from here to some finish line, it's a series of moments. A string of little dots you live one at a time. Draw a line with chalk, put a magnifying glass over it, and you find it was never really a line at all.

From there they get into the difference between kinetic and energeia, between climbing a mountain just to plant a flag at the top and actually being in the climb. You can reach the summit by helicopter, but then you missed the whole point. Sam shares the stage analogy that floored her. Shine a bright spotlight on the here and now and you can't see the back of the house, which is the future, or behind you, which is the past. Dim that light and suddenly you're living in the past or the future instead of right where your feet are. Christine ties it back to something they say all the time. In this moment, you have no problems. You're fed, you're housed, you're safe, you're here.

Then comes the part they both called a mic drop. Life in general has no meaning. Whatever meaning it has, you assign it, nobody hands it to you. The guiding star that keeps you from losing your way is contribution to others, and when you dance in the here and now in earnest, the meaning of your life becomes clear. Change yourself, and the world changes with you. It's a warm, honest wrap on a book Sam calls transformational, and a reminder that the value was never in the destination. It was in the dancing.

In this episode:

• Life as a series of moments, not a straight line to a finish line

• Kinetic versus energeia: climbing the mountain versus just reaching the top

• The spotlight and the stage, and why the here and now goes dark when you look ahead or behind

• Life has no built-in meaning, you're the one who gets to assign it

• Contribution to others as the guiding star, and how changing yourself changes the world

Quotes from this episode:

"If you live in the here and now, then a life that ends at twenty and a life that ends at ninety are both complete." - Samantha Bauer

"Right here in the moment, at my table with a microphone talking to you, what problems do I have? In this moment, you have no problems." - Christine Goforth

"Life in general has no meaning. Whatever meaning it has must be assigned by the individual. You are the only one who can assign meaning to your life." - Samantha Bauer

"The value is in the work, not the outcome. There's no winning or losing at life. The value is in the life you've lived, whether that's twenty years or ninety." - Christine Goforth

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sisters-in-law-of-attraction/id1848757802

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OngsZM3ofSq3xTUgpChfc

All platforms: https://linktr.ee/sistersinlawpod

Episode page: https://sistersinlawofattraction.com/episodes/episode-33-dancing-in-the-here-and-now.html

Sisters In Law of Attraction is hosted by Samantha Bauer and Christine Goforth.