What is Is-ness?

Image via WikipediaWhat is isness?  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,  isness seems to resonate with a group of twenty-something year olds I know.   

How we came to this term and it’s meaning was an interesting journey in itself.  Apparently, the term is used in the book: The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.   After starting this spiritual direction group for twenty-something year olds, I thought we should come up with a term for a higher power that resonated for us all.  This term did not come from our heads but 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 isness but rather it chose us.

Why isness?   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 twenty-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 confidant that this twenty-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 isness as it pertains to the world today?  I guess it’s up to each one of us to decide.  Whatever it is, however, it’s safe to say that if you ask a twenty-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 twenty-something and have some wisdom to share, please comment below!