The Now Button

When I started working in radio, nothing would happen without the aid of a real person working the controls. We were called D.J.’s, or Disc Jockeys. The name came from the main way we played music on vinyl discs. The big ones were 33 1/3 rpm LP’s (Long Playing) and the smaller ones, 45 rpm Singles. Once in a while we would go back into the archives to play a 78-rpm disc.

In addition to discs, DJs would tap into reel-to-reel tapes, as well as occasionally joining a live feed from a national network. We would check the always-on teletype machine in the back closet, sequestered away because it was so noisy, constantly typing updates from around the world and locally. We would use these stories to build our live news casts.

Eventually, discs and reels gave way to pre-recorded 4-track cartridges that had the song or commercial always cued up. And vinyl discs eventually were replaced by CDs, but through it all, the live DJ had to keep the elements playing for the radio station to broadcast. This also necessitated staffing the station 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with a person to keep the station running.

Very early in this process, station management sought ways to automate the process. Paying live DJs was expensive, even at the typically lower wages earned in radio. One of the earliest ways to automate was to pre-record music cuts on large reels of tape, with various means of light-sensitive triggers or silent tones that would stop one cut and start the next, all according to pre-set patterns in primitive electronic control centers.

The next system of automation involved loading all the song cartridges (called “carts”) into massive cart carousels, and the control system would choose which cart would play next. DJ’s could actually pre-record news, weather, even time-checks onto carts to be built into the automation process. It was a constant battle to try and keep things accurately on time and in sequence.

With the introduction of the computer, radio automation truly came into its own. Modern radio computer automation systems seamlessly integrate massive music libraries, commercials, live network feeds, and DJ voice recordings, all in a way to feel like the live DJ is truly there in the studio. The radio Program Director can pre-build multiple weeks’ worth of playlists to create a live-feeling radio station that does not need anyone in the studio to keep things playing.

Another advantage to this kind of automated radio programming is that radio management and employees can look back into the past to see when things played, and they can look into the future to make sure all elements are in place and ready to play. And this can all be done right on the computer in the on-air studio as it plays the elements that go on the air.

However, no matter how much time one spends looking at the past playlist or looking into the future, nothing is as important as what is currently playing on the air. No matter what you learn from the past played cuts, no matter how well the future is worked over and pre-planned, if something goes wrong with the cut presently playing, the rest of the efforts are vain. All the audience knows is that the station is off the air.

The WideOrbit automation system I currently use has, at the top of the touch screen, a round button with the single word “Now.” No matter how far back or how far forward one goes in the playlist, with a simple touch of the “Now” button, the playlist jumps immediately back to what is playing right at this moment, so that all attention can be focused on this single most important event.

How very much like life this is. We can spend much time looking back at the past, and dwell upon our successes, our failures, our victories and our disappointments. Nostalgia can consume all of our waking hours, and dwelling consistently in this realm has been shown by some clinical psychologists to be a large contributor to a depressed state of mind. On the other hand, dwelling for large periods of time in the future, planning, fretting, reworking possible outcomes, all can lead to increased levels of anxiety.

As debilitating as depression and anxiety are on their own, this habit of living in the past and in the future carries with it an even bigger price: it robs us of the present. How often do we become impatient with an insistent child asking for our attention, because we are worrying about how we just did on a big presentation, or are worrying about how we will be perceived at a future event?

I maintain that the past is very valuable as a teacher to help us learn important lessons, and we are wise to carefully plan for the future. But if we stay in either time zone, if we, in essence, set up camp there, we are missing the very essence of why we are here in this life.

As vivid as our memories are, studies have shown that most of us get a lot of the past wrong, and they are rather skewed through our own lens. Two people recalling the exact same event can emerge with strikingly different accounts of the same activity. So, strictly speaking, the past is not tangibly real. It is purely shadows, mirrors, and patterns of memories and interpretations.

And no matter how carefully we plan for tomorrow, or even for 5 minutes from now, we have no control over what event - great or small, miniscule or catastrophic – may happen next in the timeline of our life. The future isn’t real. It is a blueprint, a plan with no guarantee of ever happening.

So, when you boil it all down, there is only one reality: right now. This very second. And what a rich moment it is! If you were to graph your life out on a 2-dimensional timeline, this very moment would be just a small dot on the line. But life is not 2 dimensions – it is at least 3, if not many more. So, if you take that same dot on the line, and draw a line perpendicular to the actual sheet of paper, a line that goes on for infinity, that just begins to describe the richness of every moment we live. We cannot afford to ignore this amazing moment because we are caught in the past or the future.

It helps me to picture that “Now” button whenever I get worrying about what people think of me (the past) or about things that might happen at work (the future). I just picture a “Now” button right in the middle of my forehead. I press it, and BAM! My thoughts realize that neither the past nor the future are necessarily real, and the only reality is right now! And what a wonderful now it is! I may be face-to-face with a dear member of my family. I may be in the midst of a beautiful, fragrant forest or garden. I may be in a crowded airport, surrounded by amazing people, each with a deep, profound story of their life. And I have been given this gift, this PRESENT, and I won’t see this PRESENT again. I want to enjoy it now.

As a side note, for the past 20 or so years, I have not been able to sleep all the way through the night. I generally fall right asleep very quickly, but about four hours into the night, I wake up (yes, an aging bladder does play a part in all of this) and, once I’m awake, my mind goes into hyper-drive, thinking and worrying about past mistakes, errant words, and embarrassing moments. I also get obsessed with anxiety about upcoming appointments and assignments. In this state, which, for some reason, my half-conscious nighttime mind tends to amplify into near-catastrophic levels, I toss and turn for hours at a time, sometimes never returning to sleep, and I arise worn-out and in desperate need of a nap.

I have now applied the “Now” button philosophy to these episodes as well. I still awaken at the same time, but no sooner do I find my mind straying to the past or the future, than I imagine pressing that “Now” button, and I am solely focused on the luxurious comfort of my bed, the sweet peace of lying next to the woman I love, all is right in the world at that very second. Any lingering thoughts about the past or the future are quickly dismissed as what they really are: not real. The only reality is the immediate present. With my mind in this present state, I find that I very quickly relax back into a sleep state and awaken in the morning much more refreshed.

We have been given an amazing gift – the present. We owe it to ourselves and those dearest to us to be fully awake and truly living in this moment – in this reality – in this now. Learn from the past, plan for the future, but live right now.

And that’s the parable of the Now Button. Press as needed.