Field Note: Flourishing and Embracing in the Temporary
Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how to better embrace and flourish within the temporary.
Because everything is temporary, right? Pretty much every career role, friendship, love connection. Not disposable, but definitely mostly temporary.
The degree of temporariness varies, of course. Some things pass quietly; others leave deep grooves. But everything comes to an end eventually and that isn’t just okay, I think it’s something that should spur us into thriving, enjoying, and truly living in the now, with what we have. Consciously not taking things for granted, because we know they won’t always be there.
A simple example. For me, there are few things more satisfying than watching the sun go down with a beach fire burning, line in the water, beer in hand. When striking that first spark into the tinder, I can sit in the sadness of knowing the fire won’t burn forever or I can embrace the fact that it’s only for the night and enjoy it fully while it lasts. I’m leaning hard toward the latter.
There’s an irony here I’ve noticed over time: spending too much energy wondering whether something will last often contributes directly to it not doing so. An unplanned, sometimes unconscious self-sabotage. Not good. Not needed. Best avoided.
The flip side is freeing. When you truly accept how temporary things are, it opens space to explore more deeply, without fear. The outcome is already mostly known. That acceptance can be oddly de-stressing. Liberating, even.
The spectrum here is vast. The end of a contract. The passing of someone close to you. The split of a love partnership. A special friendship that gently dissipates.
It’s okay to acknowledge that the things we hold dear are, by their nature, temporary.
A note to my younger self. Everything really is temporary. Don’t waste energy resisting that. Flourish because of it. And when things come to an end—mourn appropriately, yes—but more importantly, celebrate and cherish having been part of it while you were.