"Next" A Shift in Perspective
Alex hadn’t been looking for anything in particular that evening, it was just another night out in the city.
Alex hadn’t been looking for anything in particular that evening, it was just another night out in the city. She landed at one of those events where people show up half out of curiosity, half out of habit. There were drinks, plenty of unfamiliar faces, and background noise made up of chatter and laughter, it was easy to drift in and out of conversations. She eventually figured out, it was a book launch party for an Iranian architect. He said to her, “These are my personal projects. Not to push to sell. I made them because I had to. I feel I have to.” She was moved by his words.
At some point, she started to wander around the building, she admittedly got turned around and lost, finding her way back from the washroom. She randomly ended up talking to someone she hadn’t met at the party. They were moving furniture into a studio. They seemed eager to get home or wherever they were heading to next. But they said something that stuck with her. It was a quick conversation, she said to herself, she would have to write this down or do her best to remember it.
They told her about a conversation they once had, about a word. Someone had asked them: “What’s the most important word in the English language?”
They let Alex guess before getting to the answer, and it was like a riddle to solve without much context. She wasn’t sure if they wanted to actually tell the full story. So she played along and guessed that they wanted her to engage in the conversation. Alex guessed. The most important word she could think of, the strongest? “Hmmm,” she thought, what is a word that is a force in itself? A few moments later she said out loud, “love.”
The person then responded, “No.” while pointing a finger in the air, as if to have had a stroke of genius, a eureka moment, while knowing what comes next.
The answer they’d been given was: “Next.”
And then they explained why. “Next is the only word that has no history and all the potential in the world. It isn’t weighted down by what’s already happened. It doesn’t carry regret, guilt or nostalgia. It’s clean. Open. Unwritten. Neutral. Empowering. It’s the opposite of stuck. It’s where re-invention lives. It’s the door that opens after endings.”
This perspective was both philosophically and emotionally resonant with Alex. The person added just a little bit more, and said, “Think about it, when something has happened, you can always ask; ‘And now, what’s next?’”
That conversation didn’t go on for long. But it landed in Alex’s brain like a piece of floss, removing something that didn’t belong in her mouth.
They weren’t trying to coach her or sell her anything. They just gave her a word, and a new way of looking at things. That was nice. It’s important to share ideas and the best people to Alex, were the ones who were not afraid to share ideas. Sharing makes the whole world richer and more vibrant.
On her way home that night, Alex kept thinking, we need more people like that guy in this world. She muttered to herself with a short muffled chuckle, “Don’t ever change dude.”
She trailed into her thoughts. She thought about how many times she had stood still, not physically, but emotionally. Thinking she needed to figure things out, or be sure, or have a plan. Sometimes she thought she needed closure, or certainty, or answers.
She didn’t. She also had gratitude for having already entered into her, give no f*cks era, many years before hearing the quip about the word “next.” There was certainly power in continuing or resilience, which she had loads of. She was very much in the present, made moves without clinging, and let go of things that past, when she wasn’t tethered by responsibility. She thought of another word of importance in that moment, “OHIO.”
Ohio is a word that stood for more than just a place, it was an acronym for “Only Handle It Once” it’s a bit of a backronym as well, since it happens to be the name of a place. Then her mind started throwing words at her, as friendly reminders. Words like, “FEAR, False Evidence Appearing Real,” or “TEAM, Together Everyone Achieves More.” She wanted to remember the word “NEXT” in a similar way.
”Next, No Expectations, X (by) Transformation” something like letting go of the past and embracing change.
“Next, New Energy, X (repeated/multiplied) Trajectory,” a fresh start or pivoting in a new direction.
“Next, Nothing Exists, X (by) Tomorrow,” a philosophy that leaves it all behind.
It was funny to Alex to think of the overall general power in words.
One final thought crossed her mind before she let it all go, words are powerful when we give them meaning. If they had no meaning, they would be sounds and no different than a birds song, they would be music and something universal.
The next morning, she got up a little earlier. She didn’t overthink her to-do list. She took a few moments to listen in on the birds and the wind in the trees outside her window. Alex made a phone call she’d been avoiding. Sent an email that had been sitting in drafts. Walked a different route to buy a baguette. Tiny things. It all felt a little different because now, in the back of her mind, the word next was alive. She made a quiet agreement with herself, to ask more often, “what’s next?” whether things were messy or clear, exciting or boring.
That one word changed the way she thought about her time. Her choices. Her voice. And the best part? She knew that this wasn’t the end of the story.
It was just… the next part.
Written by Angela Fedele
Author’s Note:
This story was an exploration of the alleged “most important word.” and what I discovered about the word “next.”
It aligns with Zen Buddhist principles. It lets go of the past. Embraces the present. It moves without sticking to anything.
I discovered that it surfaces in recovery or 12-step program language, to promote progress over perfection. It’s a survival and healing mechanism for people in recovery.
I noticed while trying to locate a source of the origin of the idea, that it showed up a lot in the self-help and coaching circles. It is likely there is a version, in a TED talk or book about habit building, trauma recovery or even entrepreneurship.
My findings are unclear as to who is accredited for having said “The only word that matters is 'next.’ Not 'good,’ not 'bad,’ just ‘next.’” However it may seem to have risen from the theatre; perhaps a playwright or screenwriter.
Internet search engines are influenced by artificial intelligence these days by default. It is my experience, that searching for information is more tedius these days, as a single idea needs to be searched multiple times to decern its origin. It’s also my opinion that the internet is a messy place for sourcing information and the origin of it.
I do believe there is beauty in the mess because you can take one idea, drop it in the same crowd and get a fascinating amount of very different perspectives from the same experience. People give meaning, and the meaning they give is skewed by their own experiences and perspectives. It’s truly wonderful. It seems impossible to ever get bored of all the different narratives floating around.
I will say, the word “next” brought me closer to my love of books and the importance of the structure of publications. There is something so lovable to me about holding a book. I hope you take a great risk today and purchase a book, a magazine, comic, artist book or even a ‘zine to enjoy somewhere in the world, unplugged from the mess of the internet.
Look in a book, the answers are traditionally, in a book.
One more fun fact. Plastic is useful but paper is more environmentally friendly. We no longer need to cut our trees down to produce it either. Check out this paper related initiative. Please understand this share is not sponsored and if there is a desire to have the link removed by the inventor, please contact me to discuss my share, I think it’s brilliant.
Honourable mention to Pietro Gallo, a Toronto photographer who first dropped the word “next” into a conversation. Funny how the word meant to unstick a person, stuck with me.
