This post is about valuing the now. It is also about gratitude, appreciation, and seizing the day. It is designed to help you pause, reflect and reassess…
Quote 1
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida – Capturing the Moment. 1906. Wikimedia Commons
“It’s hard to remember that this day will never come again. That the time is now and the place is here and that there are no second chances at a single moment.”
Jeanette Winterson
The words of this esteemed writer and academic can serve as a powerful cautionary tale to us all. Remembering that each moment, each hour, each day, is uniquely valuable and cannot be repeated may sometimes be difficult, but the reality is that the present moment is all we have. Absolutely nothing else is guaranteed.
Things change from moment to moment, from day to day. Nothing stays the same, whether we want it to or not. We cannot depend on tomorrow. Remember Horace’s injunction to “pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.”
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May. John William Waterhouse. Wikimedia Commons.
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.”
Andrew Marvell
Grasping opportunities when they present themselves is important, for they will not always be there. The day will end, the roses will fade and we will grow old. Moments that offer us special chances do not present themselves that often.
“How much I missed, simply because I was afraid of missing it.”
Paulo Coelho
Quote 2
Eternity. Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis. 1906. WikiArt.
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
Omar Khayyam
These words extend the message of the previous quotation; as well as realising that we actually only have the now, the present moment, it is important to be able to celebrate it, to realise that, in a holistic and reflective way, this very moment represents the whole of our life.
Life is not about the past or the present; true joy is not related to remembering or waiting for something to happen, for the past is no longer with us and the future is full of uncertainty and the unknown. Remember: The past is gone, the future is unknown, we only have today and this moment.
We cannot defer being happy, or constantly wait, with some anxiety and trepidation, for ‘the right time’ in a questionable future, to experience joy and appreciation of life. Neither can we constantly live in the past, harking back to times gone by. The time is, and must be, now. This moment is what our life is about and it is all we have.
Quote 3
Carl von Merode – Exciting Events. 1884. Wikimedia Commons
“Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever.”
Paul Auster
Auster’s quotation graphically expresses how mercurial life can be, how it can change in an instant. The change may be welcome and wonderful, or it may be tragic and very disturbing. Whatever it may be, it is still change. We cannot know what is round the corner.
Without any advance notice, life can change drastically and permanently for any of us. This can happen ‘suddenly and forever.’ Nothing we have is guaranteed to last and life will never go back to how it was before. Such uncertainty can be very depressing, disheartening and disturbing to contemplate.
On the other hand, the reality of life’s changeability can be freeing, as it implies that there exist opportunities and possibilities in life. There can be new beginnings after loss and change.
Despite our frequent desire for stability and security, life is actually random, fragile and impermanent. Accepting this is far from easy, but, if we are able to do so in due course, our lives can be more enjoyable as we value each precious moment.
Similarly, contemplating the reality of one’s own mortality can taint every moment with fear and trepidation. However, coming to terms with this will mean that we will be freer to enjoy the present, the moments of life that we do have. Adjusting to our mortality will mean that we may enjoy life all the more, valuing every passing moment of our limited life-span.
“The more fully you live your life the less tragic is your death”
Irvin D.Yalom.
Quote 4
Albert Anker.Schreibender Knabe.(Writing Boy.) c1908. Wikimedia Commons
“Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.”
Francis Bacon
The words above remind us of the importance of trusting the unconscious during the process of creativity. If we record and value momentary ideas that pop into our head unexpectedly, then we will be harnessing the power of our unconscious mind and using this more efficiently.
Beneath our consciousness is a vast inner world, the part of the mind in which repressed primitive wishes, fantasies, memories, dreams and are stored. Tapping into this great repository of richness and depth can only enhance our lives and our productivity.
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
Whatever we may be consciously working on in a creative way, if we allow ourselves to relax into a kind of creative reverie, a constructive kind of daydreaming, then we can discover that our unconscious mind can very much aid the process.
Indian Lotus flower. Hong Zhang. Wikimedia Commons
“Just as conscious contents can vanish into the unconscious, other contents can also arise from it. … creative ideas … grow up from the dark depths like a lotus.”
Jung
Allowing ourselves to relax into a state of reverie can be a highly creative act. Using our imagination, we can travel through our reveries in ways that will help us to come up with solutions to problems and to make new discoveries.
Such a state of reverie has connections with ‘turning down the noise,’ allowing oneself to temporarily cut off from the hum of the world, inner and outer. This is also akin to daydreaming…and how creative can our daydreams be!
“Daydreaming incubates creative discovery.”
Daniel Goleman.
Awareness of the existence of the unconscious can be life-changing; living unconsciously means that we go through life lacking any awareness that there is anything other than the conscious mind.
There is no sense of the deeper level of consciousness that actually drives much of our behaviour. If we choose to live unconsciously, we are at the mercy of life, blown in the wind, lost. We will be totally oblivious of other levels activity beneath consciousness.
Not only will this mean that we do not understand ourselves and our deeper, unconscious urges and instincts, but it will also mean that we cannot harness the power of our unconscious mind to help us through our lives and our work.
“To make someone love the unconscious, that is teaching art.”
Anton Ehrenzweig, 1967, The Hidden Order of Art
Quote 5
Gustave Courbet – Eternity.1865. Wikimedia Commons
“The moment is not properly an atom of time but an atom of eternity.”
Søren Kierkegaard
This poignant and deeply meaningful quotation highlights the fact that the moment is when eternity and time converge. The moment may be unremarkable, merely ‘an atom of time,’ or it can be more far-reaching and existentially significant.
What occurs in a moment is not only about time, it can also be time-less, in that it may have powerful implications for eternity. In one moment, we can make a life-changing decision, one that impacts on eternity. That moment can become eternal.
Anastasiya Markovich. Effect of Butterfly. 2008. Wikimedia Commons.
“Catch, then, O catch the transient hour; Improve each moment as it flies!”
St. Jerome
These words emphasise the priority that needs to be given to the present, the now. As well as gaining as much benefit and joy from each moment, it is important to ensure as far as possible that each passing minute is used to contribute to our self-improvement.
Having said this, whilst we do need to use our moments mindfully, it is also important to remember that there is benefit to be gained from doing things we enjoy, even if they feel mindless, leisurely, and time-wasting.
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
J. Lubbock
Paradoxically, this ‘time-wasting’ is still using our moments of life to the full. It can give us relaxation, peace and times of reverie and enlightenment.
“Time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
Marthe Troly-Curtin.
Alexander von Humboldt. Portrait by Friedrich Georg Weitsch (1806). Source: Wikimedia Commons
“The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.”
Abraham Maslow
Beginning next week, I will be having a late 2-week summer break from writing my posts for waysofthinking.co.uk. Following that, from Tuesday 30th September, I will continue writing the blog on a weekly basis as usual. ‘See’ you then… and thank you all for your interest and support.
© Linda Berman