![]() ![]() The human mind is a never-ending source of wonderment when it comes to inventing rationalizations (rational lies) that will support it in not having to face reality or deal with painful truths. And the ultimate armor is our minds, how we use our own thinking to help us deny the pain in this world and anesthetize us to it-how we invent stories and reasons why we don’t have to get perspective, why we don’t have to think about death or tragedy. And, agreed, it would be great to be able to go through this life armored up against the pain and tragedy inherent in this world. You have that right in your lovely “Meet Glennon” essay. But I guarantee if they’re not touching you today or tomorrow, they’ll be touching someone else in a way that you don’t want to imagine and with a pain you cannot begin to comprehend. But more importantly we live and love blindly, myopically, as if death and loss are far away and far off things that will never touch or at least aren’t suppose to touch us now. We always want more, want newer, want better. Yet carpe diem-appreciating what we have-is also completely contrary to how we’re built and how we’re hard-wired. Not choosing the path of least resistance-meaning the path that doesn’t trigger our insecurities and fears. That’s the essence of carpe diem, or “seize the day.” Not living in denial. This same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying. It needs to be a practice that encourages us to begin with the end in mind, to begin with our own and others’ fragility and mortality in mind. But it needs to be some sort of spiritual practice that allows us to get perspective, to come closer to the bigger questions and issues in life, to get down to the “heart of the matter”-to what really matters in life. This can be mediation first thing in the morning, reading something of substance, journalling and blogging, et cetera. The other route we have to learning how to better appreciate what we have is to develop a genuine spiritual practice that encourages us everyday to realize what we have and realize how quickly it can all change (for the worse) and be taken from us. Otherwise, we will tend to live blindly and not really get how lucky we are and how good we have it.įrankly, we’ll come across as a little spoiled. We have to have our hearts broken and wrung, we have to know that tomorrow is not a sure thing, that our own health is not certain, that the health of those we love is not certain, that accidents and tragedies do happen and can happen at any time on any day, even a bright blue sunny day. ![]() ![]() In order for any of us to truly appreciate what we have we first have to lose things, people especially. That’s just how we come equipped into this world. We’re built very myopically, with a lot of blind spots. That’s just the way we’re built are as human beings. And young people aren’t supposed to have a lot of perspective and be able yet to truly appreciate what they have. It’s about having more and more of what you call “Kairos” moments each day. Being told, in a million different ways to CARPE DIEM makes me worry that if I’m not in a constant state of intense gratitude and ecstasy, I’m doing something wrong.Ĭarpe diem isn’t about enjoyment, it’s about appreciation, first and foremost, and from that deep appreciation much more enjoyment will flow. Especially during this phase of my life – while I’m raising young kids. This CARPE DIEM message makes me paranoid and panicky. But as 2011 closes, I have finally allowed myself to admit that it just doesn’t work for me. I know that this message is right and good. This time goes by so fast.”Įverywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, raise my awareness, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc. You can read the full post here 2011 Lesson #2 : Don’t Carpe DiemĮvery time I’m out with my kids – this seems to happen:Īn older woman stops us, puts her hand over her heart and says something like, “Oh- Enjoy every moment. I posted this on another person’s blog in response to her post. ![]()
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