Can spontaneity be intentional?

As I browsed through my inbox last Thursday, the subject line for a Denver-based weekend events roundup, “tarmac stargazing, polar plunges, & kitty yoga,” caught my eye. (Emphasis on kitty yoga.)

To my surprise, I learned that a local cat café, home to several adorable, adoptable cats, was hosting a yoga class followed by cat playtime, with coffee and tea, in less than 72 hours.

Now, I am not always often not one for making last-minute plans. I bet most of my close loved ones would tell you I’m not that spontaneous. (They’re not wrong.) For many of us, living “intentionally” manifests as abiding by a planned calendar and saying “no” to protect our time for “things that matter.” It often feels like a direct opposition to impulsive, undisciplined, and reactive spontaneity.

But when cats, yoga, and coffee in my community came calling, I reached out to a fellow cat-loving friend of mine zealously and asked if she was free at 9:00 am on Sunday. Gratefully, she trusts me enough to indulge me and my wild ideas.

On Sunday morning, we met outside the cat café for kitty yoga. 90 glorious minutes spent practicing yoga and playing with cats in the coziest space with a friend. Cat tax below:

Maybe we can attribute this situation to my cat-loving impulses, but I’m willing to wager there was something bigger going on here. Spontaneity and intentional living can (and should) coexist. But there’s one critical piece you need for them to do so: your values.

Spontaneity + Values = Intentional Living

Going to kitty yoga was a no-brainer for me. Not just because there were cats involved, but because the experience aligned with many of my values: supporting my local community, friendship, presence, treating my body well, novelty, spending my money on causes I care about, and having a positive impact.

I didn’t need to assess whether this experience deserved my time and attention. I knew it did because it supported who I strive to be.

When you’re clear on what you value, spontaneous decisions can lose much of their chaotic aura, so long as you act in reflection of what you care about. Planning rigidly isn’t the same as planning intentionally. But spontaneity isn’t entirely in opposition to living intentionally, either.

Both require uncovering what matters to you (not your parents, not your boss, not societal systems) so you can spend your teeny-tiny amount of time on this planet managing your calendar and making spontaneous decisions in a way that feels good to you. That’s how you live an intentional life.

Not sure where to start? I recently refreshed the free Values Workbook I shared in an early issue of Time Intentional. And trust me, it’s gooooood! Grab it below!

My grandmother was never shy about making last-minute plans with my sister and me. I finally realized that’s because we sat at the top of her values list 😇

Time well spent: weekly roundup

• I finished reading The Life Intended* by Kristin Harmel, a novel about grief, moving on, and living a meaningful life even when the life you live isn’t always the one you intended. It’s immersive and validating in that we have to go through the things life presents us with (no matter how hard) to become the people we are.

• I worked on a deep and intentional 15 Internal Email Best Practices With Actionable Examples blog post for ContactMonkey this week. It was a project that undoubtedly put me in my element because ideas flowed naturally. It pairs internal communications expertise with psychological principles, workplace research, and practical, detailed examples.

• In “The hidden cost of letting AI make your life easier,” by Shai Tubali in Big Think, Sven Nyholm, Professor of Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, dives into a timely and critical question: “Can AI improve our lives in the way that matters most — by deepening meaning — or might it diminish meaning in ways that remain largely unexamined?”

Your next intentional move

• What parts of your life didn’t unfold the way you imagined, and what meaning have you found in them?

• What signs tell you that you’re working in alignment with your natural talents?

• What parts of life feel more meaningful precisely because they require effort or struggle?

Check out the full list of intentional prompts and share it with someone you love!

ICYMI

I’m Alyssa Towns, and this is Time Intentional, a newsletter exploring what it means to spend our limited (and precious) time intentionally. Extend your love and support by sharing this newsletter with someone you know, or…

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