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September 22, 2012

What is Is-Ness? ~ Vera Snow

A creative shift seems to be happening in our world today.

What is is-ness? Some may call it being in the moment. Others may say it’s about  presence or paying attention. And some may even see it as grace.

Whatever your take on it,  is-ness seems to especially resonate with a group of 20-something year olds I know. How we came to this term and its meaning was an interesting journey in itself.

Apparently, the term is used in the book: Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. After starting a spiritual direction group for 20-something year olds, I thought we should come up with a term for a higher power that resonated with us all. This term did not come from our heads and only after some internal mining did we discover that our hearts were aligning with it. It was an awesome discovery, really, because we all knew that we didn’t choose is-ness, but rather it chose us.

Why is-ness?

I don’t know. But then again, a lot of things aren’t making much sense these days. A creative shift seems to happening in our world today—a renaissance of sorts. Old structures are coming down and new ones are in flux.

What these new structures will look like or how they will formulate is still a mystery. Yet, the 20-something, social networking generation seems to be leading the way. Some say, they lack structure completely, but I  disagree. I think they have a structure but it’s much more subtle and  internalized.

So what is going to happen when all these huge, institutional, “mid-evil-like” structures come down around us as we shift  into a new era? I’m not sure, but I am confident that this 20-something generation have a lot to teach us. They are more about balance. They choose to have a life over just working until they die. They seem to choose experience over just about everything else.

Don’t tell them what to do because they need to experience it for  themselves first. Don’t tell them they have to stick with a meaningless 9-5 job because they really don’t see the point.

So what is is-ness as it pertains to the world today?

I guess it’s up to each one of us to decide. Whatever it is, it’s safe to say that if you ask a 20-something year old about it, he/she will know exactly what you mean but will allow you the space to figure it out for yourself.

If you are 20-something and have some wisdom to share, please comment below!

 

Vera Snow finds the mystical in just about everything but is particularly mindful of it when it comes to pop-culture. Visit www.verasnow.com to learn more.

 

 

~

Editor: Sarah Winner

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