The Three Bears of the Past, Present, and Future

While I was having a regular conversation with my mother (discussing summer break travel plans and whatnot), I stumbled upon a sticker I misplaced many weeks ago. This sticker is in the shape of a bear, but rather than brown, black, or white fur, the bear’s silhouette is filled with a landscape. Mountains, pine trees, a river, and a small cabin in the distance. And upon seeing this image, I was reminded of an epiphany I had the first time I laid eyes on it.

The three bears of the Past, Present, and Future.

My idea was to have my characters meet these deities during their travels, and to be so in awe and curious about how the forest looked in the past, and how it will look in the future—plus some other small details that I still need to remember—but they completely overlook the smallest bear.

Present.

Because, you see, this bear looks exactly as its surroundings do.

And then, as I was saying all of this to my mother, I decided that perhaps the bear Present wasn’t exactly necessary. I mean, it’s kind of invisible, you know? What’s the point?
Well, Mom looked at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. “Do you hear what you’re saying?”

Maybe I didn’t, so I quieted down and thought it all over. “Oh. Oohhh.” I shook my head at my own stupidity.

“You see what I mean, right? The past is already gone. You can look at it as much as you want, but there’s no way to go back to it. And the future—the future is so uncertain. It’s a prediction of what could happen, or what might happen, but it’s always changing. The present is the only thing that’s certain. The bear is ‘invisible’ because people don’t always appreciate what’s happening right in front of them.”

From there, I went in an upwards spiral of all the great lore Mother Larkspur just unlocked with me.

This bear—Present—it’s the smallest because the present is small. The present is so manageable. It’s the ‘small now’. The future—the largest bear—is never ending. It’s good to look ahead of course, it’s good to have a plan, but if you get stuck always looking ahead, always trying to be prepared for everything life will throw at you, you get anxious. Stressed. You make a big deal about something that hasn’t even happened yet. And the past, it’s like Mom said. Look back all you want—you can’t change what’s already happened. You can’t go back to that moment. And if you stay trapped in the past or future, like so many of us do, you forget to enjoy what’s going on right now. Or maybe what’s happening right now isn’t something that can be enjoyed—you still have to focus. Get it done. Be present.

So then this idea for these wise deities expanded into something that could belong in a Studio Ghibli movie. A mini lesson hidden in the pages of my book, folded up between the sarcasm and tension and fake engagements. My characters become so obsessed with what’s going to happen once they reach the kingdom they’ve been searching for—will the government help them? And if they do, will they even succeed in stopping the war? What if they can’t get the help? What if they lose? What if, what if, what if, what if.

When they meet these bears, they try to see what their efforts will amount to. They try to take a peek at the future. But the future is always changing. They see one possible outcome, then another, then another… It’s all too overwhelming. What’s really going to happen?

And now, they’re wasting time—but they can’t help it.

And a voice reaches them, tells them to stop worrying. Moonflower Valley is not attacking them right now. The government of West Wood (or whatever I end up calling this fox territory) is not denying them help right now. They need to focus on the present and keep pushing forward. If their current plan doesn’t work further down the road, they’ll simply need to adapt. But that’s an issue for later.

And… yeah. That’s what’s new in my novel for the week. Well, that and the fact that I’ve edited the first and second chapters and have started fleshing out my main characters, my magic system, and my several deities and backstories. I mentioned last week that I was going to make new character profile charts, but I found that it’s actually easier for me to just keep a Google Doc where I can write whatever comes to mind about a character. If you were looking forward to another character profile sheet, sorry!!

What about you guys? Have you made any progress in your WIPs or made any startling revelations?