On Spontaneity
When was the last time you did something completely outside of your program? Something that toppled all of your plans and took you on a path that was unrelated to your ordinary life? On the spur of the moment? Spontaneously!
When was the last time that on your way to work you decided to report sick and simply go for a car ride on your own along a scenic route in the countryside to enjoy the sunny day? Just for the heck of it!
When was the last time you decided to forget next weekend’s “social obligations,” bought an airline ticket, and flew to another country without telling anyone? Just for the sheer craziness of disrupting your regimented life!
When was the last time you spontaneously decided to go to a luxury shop and splurge a year’s worth of savings on something you have always wanted to buy but always deferred for later?
In a nutshell: When was the last time you did something that was not on your weekly to-do list or on your day’s planned program?
Spontaneity, as used here, may be defined as an action of the mind or will that is not determined by any external influence. It is the quality of being impulsive and natural without premeditation.
Therefore, I’m not talking about the type of “programmed spontaneity,” such as “how about traveling together next year to Thailand?” That doesn’t count. That is planning for next year’s holidays or simply flirting with destinations. I’m talking about deciding to travel to Thailand tomorrow – or better still … tonight!
It is about affirming your freedom in a radical way. Your freedom to change, in an instant, not just the course of your day or week, but possibly the course of your whole life.
All of your programs, all your plans, all the constraints that apparently limit you – be it work, family, social obligations – are self-created. Every external circumstance that conditions you today is the result of a free decision you took in the past. And yet, mysteriously, all these free decisions have led to a life over which you apparently have no control. How is it that your freedom, a series of free choices, has resulted in so many chains? And how and when did it come about that spontaneity has vanished from your life? When did you lose your freedom to re-choose anew the circumstances of your life?
Well, the simple answer is that you have never really lost your freedom. It was there all along. It is there now, at this very moment. You may buy a ticket to travel to another country right now. (Stop reading, go to Skyscanner to buy it!) You will be in the other country in a few hours from now. Or you may decide to stay at home all week and binge-watch all those movies on your increasing “to-watch list” that you have been rescheduling for years. Yet this ever-present freedom is buried underneath the myriad constraints you have gradually and unwittingly imposed on yourself. The moment spontaneous thoughts, such as the above, enter the mind, a hundred other “halting thoughts” simultaneously appear to rein in any attempt at breaking the self-imposed shackles that keep you prisoner in your Cavafean Walls.
One such shackle is conformity. Doing what everybody does comes naturally to us. We are an integral part of a community the norms of which we have unconsciously accepted and adopted. It is not easy to function outside these norms. Not because of what “the others” will actually do – they will do nothing if we buy the plane ticket now (they may actually admire us for our courage and spontaneity and even try to emulate us!) – but because of what we imagine the others will think of us. We feel their imaginary gazes scrutinizing us, criticizing us, judging us. Yet, as I wrote in But Everybody Does It! doing only what is considered normal and appropriate by “everybody” is one of the most significant causes of modern man’s alienation. When we continually align our behavior, wishes, or ideas to those of the multitude, we distort them and end up living a life that is disconnected from our inner being.
The other shackle is fear. We fear both the gaze of others and failure. When Leaping into the Unknown, we are afraid we may fail in our new endeavor. We have no trust in our ability to act differently from the others.
And herein lies the main reason of why we should we be spontaneous. Spontaneity is the great cleanser: it washes away conformity, fear, the doubts in our ability to act freely outside all norms! It gives renewed energy to our life, it gives it spice, surprise, the myriad gifts of the unexpected. Most importantly, it makes us feel more Alive – with a capital “a” – which means that our life becomes magnified, attenuated.
But one may retort: Isn’t the “should” a kind of self-defeating imperative? If we start thinking of doing spontaneous acts, don’t we in the end, in effect, “plan” them?! The “should” here is not an incitement, but rather a call to a new attitude: When the urge to do something spontaneous arises, do not quell it, but go along with it. Not necessarily always, but at least sometimes.
Spontaneity is both the symbol as well as the realization of our inherent capacity for change without external influence.
Spontaneity’s role in our life is actually more central than we care to know. Sartre, the great philosopher of Freedom, related spontaneity to his concept of “radical freedom,” for it affirms our ability to break away from deterministic patterns and act without being bound by past experiences or societal expectations. He went further still, and believed that each one of us can spontaneously choose to redefine ourself at any moment. Our actions are not preordained but can emerge spontaneously from our freedom. This spontaneity is a hallmark of what he termed existential authenticity, where individuals continually create themselves through spontaneous, free choices.
But we need not go as far as redefining ourself or our whole life! We may start from something small, such as doing something crazy and playful on the spur of the moment, just as children do. One of the reasons we love observing children in action is that most of what they do is spontaneous. We secretly wish we were like them – utterly free from all societal constraints. We also admire the artist, the performer, who breaks all norms and seems spontaneous (although often their work incorporates “premeditated spontaneity”). My new friend, the world-renowned performer Paul Morocco, is the perfect example of somebody who has managed to incorporate the spontaneity of his artistic shows into his everyday life. Without necessarily feeling he is “performing,” he nevertheless allows the “spirit of the performer” to capture his being throughout the day. This allows him to interact effortlessly in a spontaneous manner with unknown people, or to simple events that cross his path, or to sights and sounds that inspire him.
During our recent visit to a bakery, when he saw two playful sculptures at the entrance, he was inspired to “become them.” He took the above two photos and shared them with the shop’s owner. His face beamed with happiness – he loved them! The two inanimate sculptures that he had long since stopped to notice, were suddenly given a new life. This little impromptu act of playfulness enriched not only ours and the shop owner’s day, but also that of the other customers who witnessed the incident. An everyday ordinary visit was thereby transformed into a special occurrence of laughter and merriment that I’m sure was carved into everybody’s memory. Paul’s spontaneity infused the Present with a new energy and meaning. I cherish these two photos, for they better express my friend’s soul than all the big and phantasmagoric shows he performs around the world! If his shows are his symphonies, this is his “Für Elise” – the short soulful piano piece that is as beautiful and special as any large work.
Tear up this week’s to-do list! Buy that ticket to Thailand now!
And if you are not up to it, then at least do your crazy act the next time you visit the bakery or the grocer’s. Paul Morocco’s “childish playfulness” is as good a start to practicing spontaneity as anything.
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