My most spontaneous moments have all been planned.
A few recent examples are an unexpectedly deep conversation with a friend, experimenting with Web3 projects, and surfing a wave while paddling out.
Each activity took an unexpected turn, but what made them magical was my complete focus on what was happening. In meditation, this focus on the moment is called mindfulness and it’s centered around being fully present in whatever is happening.
Similarly Merriam Webster’s defines spontaneous as “proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint.”
Both spontaneity and mindfulness tie back to the concept of flow. As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi details, the peak experiences of your life are when you’re so engrossed in what’s happening and are striving to do something worthwhile.
Yet for a long time, many of these moments wouldn’t happen to me because I didn’t make space for them. I was so focused on frantically finishing what I “needed to do” (emails, dishes, getting gas, etc.) that I wasn’t there for whatever was happening.
The solution I’ve stumbled on is to create a rough daily plan of the most important items and set 1-2 hour blocks for them. These blocks enable my full focus and I can be spontaneous and respond in unique ways to each moment.
Planning makes this focus and spontaneity possible. Not only do I need the blocked time for full focus (ex: meeting a friend for dinner), but also time for necessities (ex: doing those dishes after dinner). Only when I know everything critical is covered can I be fully present for each moment.
My main danger is overboarding with plans. If I plan out down to every half hour, then there’s no room for magical moments. Every plan needs slack so I generally keep rough plans that can be adjusted.
But this balance is important to me. If I set time to accomplish everything I need to do, then I create the space for moments of wonder. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m fully there for whatever does.