In the Space of Now

In the practice of Buddhism, there’s a lot of talk about "staying in the moment." The idea is that the past and the future aren't actually real—at least not in a way we can reach out and touch. But let’s be honest: to actually function in the world, we have to remember our grocery lists and plan for next month’s bills. Most of us spend our lives caught in that tug-of-war, constantly looking over our shoulders at what’s behind us or squinting to see what’s ahead.

I first explored this tension consciously about twenty-five years ago. I was living on the Central Coast of California, serving as a resident artist at the Pacific Conservatory Theatre and spending downtime at White Heron, a small meditation sangha just outside San Luis Obispo. I was deep into books by Pema Chödrön and Eckhart Tolle, and the same lesson kept hitting me: when we obsess over what’s gone or what’s coming, we completely miss the life happening right in front of us.

Those questions were heavy on my mind when the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles asked me to write a new piece to debut at the GALA Choruses Festival in Montreal. The assignment sounded simple enough: write an anthem that resonates with the LGBTQ+ community. I was searching for the right text to set when everything resonating with me about present-moment awareness clicked. I realized that the "now" is a deeply queer concept. We are a people who have to honor a difficult history and imagine a better future, all while trying to find the courage to live authentically in the present. Once I saw this parallel, the lyrics for In the Space of Now practically wrote themselves. The music was finished a few weeks later, and within months, the piece was in rehearsal.

I first explored a Buddhist practice with White Heron, a sangha located just outside San Luis Obispo, CA,

When I moved to Southern California later that year, assuming the role of assistant conductor of GMCLA, my formal meditation practice fizzled out—something Los Angeles has a way of making remarkably easy. But while my sitting practice slowed down, the music for In the Space of Now took on a life of its own. In 2006, it was part of the program for a tour of South America. We performed in four different countries, and it was a surreal, moving experience to be part of the first LGBT chorus to ever take the stage in cities like Rio and Buenos Aires. Seeing how audiences responded to the piece told me that In the Space of Now might have some real staying power.

Years later, Tim Seelig used it as his audition piece for the role of artistic director of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. He got the job (of course!) and recorded it on his first album with the SFGMC. Then, in 2025, Tim reached out again, this time asking for an SATB (mixed chorus) version. Not much changed in that revoicing, but after preparing it for publication, I felt it became an even better work. It had never been a piece solely for the gay community anyway; it was universal in its message.

The piece starts as a quiet, personal meditation and ends as a sort of a wake-up call. It’s a reminder that being "present" isn't just about sitting still and being passive; it’s about communal awareness. In a world that feels as fractured as ours does right now, music becomes a way to show how we’re actually connected. The core message is simple: we don't have to be prisoners of our own thoughts. Whether we’re talking about personal growth, politics, or the environment, the only place where change actually happens is right here in the present. We can’t just "think" our way into a better world. At some point, we have to show up in the moment we’re in and take action from there.

I’m so grateful to Tim Seelig and the team at Hal Leonard for finally getting In the Space of Now into print for mixed choruses. My hope now is that it finds a home with ensembles that want to stir something true—music that helps us listen a little closer, feel a little more deeply, and take better care of our shared humanity.

The work starts within.

Kevin

The text for In the Space of Now is below. Listen to an excerpt and purchase the piece here.

IN THE SPACE OF NOW

Words and Music by Kevin Robison

I meet you in the now.

I meet you in the still, still quiet of this moment.

This very moment, with no history or expectation.

This moment knows no past, no future, only now.

In the space of now there is no shame,

For what has happened is only remembered.

In the space of now there is no fear, 

For the future cannot be known.

In the space of now there is no judgment 

Of what has been, of all that is, of what will come.

Like music, this moment has no beginning.

Like music, this moment will go on.

Like music, this moment tells a truth:

That you and I and all that is are one.

And so we sing in the space of now.

We sing, for speaking is not enough.

We sing, for music has no judgment

Of who we’ve been, of who we are, who we’ll become.

Let us surrender to the now, to the suchness of this moment.

Let us release our judgment of all that was and is to be.

Then we—no longer prisoners of our thinking,

In an instant, in this perfect moment, through our song

—will have changed the world.

© 2026 by Kevin Robison Music. All Rights Reserved.