Notes from the Emerging Future

Presencing the emerging future: An exercise for those who feel uncertain.

Goal-setting, achievement, and productivity are hallmarks of how many of us are taught to move through life. But what we think we want is frequently at odds with the deeper longings of the soul.

Don Davis illustration, solar eclipse viewed from a space colony.

When we set goals intellectually without tapping into other sources of knowledge—feelings, emotions, synchronicities, symbols, intuition—we miss rich sources of vital information that can guide us to realize our unique path.

If you are feeling stuck or misaligned, like something is off or missing, this exercise can help you presence the future that is waiting for you.

The Setting

Find a place where you feel nourished, grounded, and where you definitely aren’t going to be interrupted! This could be somewhere in your home, your office, a park, a library, a (quiet) coffeeshop, or a third space.

Have a few of your favorite tools ready to capture thoughts and images at the end of the practice: pen and paper, recording device, sketch pad, camera, phone are all great (just make sure notifications are off if you use your phone or computer).

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, your favorite playlist (if music is your jam), and get ready to start listening.

Settling In

Take a few deep breaths and feel your body settling into the chair, floor, or whatever is supporting you.

Allow yourself to rest into this support—let your life, thoughts, and emotions rest. Let your inhale and exhale be the same length.

Notice where you are holding any tension in your body and see if you can relax that part of you five or ten percent more.

Let go of what you were doing earlier and put aside what you will be doing later. Allow yourself to arrive in the present moment.

Bring your attention into your heart space, and let your awareness settle there. Take a few breaths and while continuing to settle your awareness in your heart space.

Let what you love come forward—this isn’t an intellectual exercise but a way of feeling into what your heart holds, what whispers of your path are wanting to speak to you.

The Emerging Future

Don Davis illustration, cylinder colony endcap.

Think about a time in the future, whatever time frame feels right for you, and connect with the you that is living there.

Imagine that everything has worked out and that any challenges you are currently facing have all be resolved. In this future you are living your fullest and most fulfilling life.

Feel what this feels like not just in your mind, but in your body and in your heart.

From this place, visualize a single day in your life from the time you wake up to the time you go bed.

Do this with as much detail as possible—the places, people, relationships, activities, moods, routines, and interactions that fill your day.

The key is to be specific—the more you include the more you have to work with.

For example, when you visualize yourself waking up in the morning, imagine the room you are waking up in (or the forest, treehouse, beachside shack…), the time of the morning, and how you feel. Maybe an animal or a child comes running in to join you in bed.

Bring this vision of your life forward with loving attention, and let yourself inhabit the future that is waiting for you.

Pay attention to what feels energizing, tender, uncomfortable, scary, or exciting as you move through your day.

Keep going until you have climbed into bed for the night, lights out, and are drifting off to sleep.

Give yourself as much time as you need to do this.

Capture It

Once you have completed the visualization, take a few moments to let all the sensations and emotions settle into your body so that you can imprint what you have experienced.

It is now time to capture anything that feels important that you want to remember.

In this exercise it is common for folks, in recounting their experience, to write or record something they’ve never said before. If it feels uncertain or wobbly the first time you express something you experienced, pause. Take a few deep breaths, feel your feet on the ground, and trust what is coming through.

Tip: Use the present tense when going through this. Avoid using qualifiers which include words like might, possibly, and maybe. Record your experience as concretely and with as much aliveness as you can.

Sit with what came forward as you explored a day in your future. What felt most energizing? Nourishing? What words and images had the most resonance?

With your first pass, just capture as much as possible. Afterwards, you may want to write a poem or short story, a collage, or any kind of artifact that represents the future you are living into.

The intention is to create something that contains the seeds of inner knowing that you connected with during the visualization. You can come back to this artifact to remind you of what is calling and to help guide you on your path.

Reflection Questions

• What parts of my Emerging Future have special resonance? What words, images, situations, excited or scared me? These are important seeds, clues to pay special attention to in the days and weeks ahead.
• Are there elements of my Emerging Future that do not have resonance? These might be things I know I am good at but just not excited about. They feel safe, or like things I should include.
• What parts of my Emerging Future am I already living?
• What can I begin doing tomorrow to live into this resonant future?
• What current limiting beliefs do I need to let go of to make room for the future I long for?
• What will I do with what I have learned in this exercise?

Next Steps

• Keep your artifact and answers to the first reflection question above somewhere handy. These are the clues and breadcrumbs that will be important as you cultivate ways of being that call to your Emerging Future.
• If there are aspects of your Emerging Future that you are already living today, look for ways to deepen that just a little more each day.
• Create a learning plan: what can you do in the next week, month, and year to set the foundations for the future that is calling to you? The actions you take now will be the calling card for the people, companies, places, and interactions that you want to bring into your life.

Wrapping Up

You have just explored your most alive and fulfilling future. From this exploration you have collected a list of clues and maybe even the beginnings of a map of the terrain. Allow your experience and the clues you uncovered to continue to guide you.

Pay attention to your dreams and waking life for synchronicities that bring confirmation and that help illuminate the way.

Keep listening for the future that is living through you.

Methodology

For those who are curious about the methodology, please see:

• Dream Tending and Deep Imagination in the lineage of Carl Jung, James Hillman, and most recently Stephen Aizenstat
• Intentional Change Theory developed by Richard Boyatzis
• Gestalt psychology and the Paradoxical Theory of Change
• Parker Palmer’s work on inner listening and vocation