What if the Moment knows More than Your Plan?

Showing up for the ride on a foggy day in the mountains

In my most corporate years in fashion my life was constantly interwoven with forecasting outcomes. At times, it seemed as if we were trying to outsmart the moment by insisting on what it should be.

There’s a tradeoff.

Insisting on a prediction can blind you to what’ s currently brewing.

In the mountains I’ve found myself taking cover from a storm several times despite meticulous preparations.

Paying attention becomes more relevant than relying on a plan. 

Focusing your energy on where you are.

Moving with the moment.

The terrain.

The weather.

The current step.

My mom, who falls frequently due to a genetic defect affecting her balance, was beaming the other day, as she realized halfway through walking to a nearby store that she forgot her stick. 

We agreed to plan for the likelihood of falling - while expecting a better outcome. She is in a long-term scientific research program where her case continues to prove medical predictions encouragingly inaccurate.

Unlearning what you felt certain about widens your options.

Releasing your grip on a specific result opens the door to defying even the worst odds.

It’s a chance.

It’s a choice.

Trend forecasts are central to business strategies in the fashion industry. I’ve found it to be a double-edged sword. Over-preparation often hindered adaptability in my corporate experience.

It often worked best to treat daily tasks like a dance - adapting the movement when the choreography no longer aligned.

Working with dissonance.

Holding tension.

Trying to evade friction is reflected in our culture of instant gratification, as we seek to buy ourselves out of dissatisfaction.

Ironically, the relief rarely lasts - which keeps the consumer cycle spinning.

Your disappointment tends to match your expectations.

The less you chase satisfaction, the more satisfied you might find yourself. Surrendering control you never really had.

Raw experience over illusory story. 

At times, brutally blunt.

A close friend told me the night before her wedding how devastated she was that she didn’t feel as elated as she thought she would. She felt let down by the storyboard of the beaming bride she had signed up for.

You often can’t predict how you’ll feel.

What seems right can feel wildly off.

What if this is a threshold?

Expecting less to see more.

Risking being let down.

Investing yourself anyway.

On the quest to avoid disappointment, social media has added the seductive promise of “foolproof” paths to contentment - offering clarity offering clarity that rarely holds. The cost is exchanging self-discovery for reliance on someone else’s instructions to “guaranteed” bliss.

You outsource your journey of self-discovery relying on a map not intended for you. Losing touch with your own truth. The connection with yourself fading.

Maybe you need to walk in your own footsteps for a while.

Reducing external input to experience yourself more directly.

Relating to life on your own terms - daring real-life contact to get to know yourself.

Coming to your own conclusions.

Gaining autonomy.

Your autonomy expands where your agenda ends.

Putting yourself on the line while being open to ditch the plan altogether.

Staying flexible.

Doing it while the initial discomfort is still there…

Some of my fondest memories are from a forecast missing the mark.

Memorable was meeting a couple from Australia in a shelter hut in Norway due to a surprising storm, sharing food, conversation, and company throughout the night leading to a friendship.

We woke up to untouched snow-powdered paths which we hiked to the peak of the famous Preikestolen, one of Norway’s most iconic natural landmarks above the Lysefjord. Crowded on a day predicting ideal weather, we didn’t meet a single soul.