This Moment as a Memory

What if today turned out to be your last day of life and you would eventually look back on it from the Other Side?  What would you notice?

Are you alone?  Are you with someone?  What have you been doing?  What have you said?  Remember, none of this will be here tomorrow.  What feels important, knowing you’ll never have these moments again?

Recently, we rented a DVD of the British film About Time.  It’s a romantic fantasy—both funny and sad, but it’s one of those films that makes you think.  In it, the lead character discovers he has a secret ability to go back in his lifetime to do scenes of his choice over.  He uses the ability to his advantage in many different ways—to enhance relationships, re-do clumsy choices, rearrange priorities.  Eventually, however, he realizes he can use his power to go back to pay better attention and to find the most positive perspectives on everyday happenings.  He can be amused instead of annoyed by his quirky co-worker.  He realizes he has been trivializing the small moments he has with people he loves when those were far more important than triumphs or defeats at work.  He comes to understand that even with his time-travel powers, he lives in a world where life is fleeting.

Long ago, I directed a high school version of the play Our Town that focuses on much the same theme: we live our lives largely unaware that every moment can be beautiful and important–if we’re able to see that it is already.  A dear old friend who’s an authority on creating wealth has been diagnosed with cancer that may be terminal.  He recently reminded my husband and me to take time to squeeze the joy out of living.  He’s hoping his insight isn’t coming too late for him.  Joy doesn’t have to cost anything.  It can be a smile, a phone call, a walk together—nature and friends and family.

As summer wanes and autumn approaches, this is a good time to remind ourselves to look up from the small stuff of life and celebrate the big stuff.  Special moments are the gemstones in the rock.

Thanks for being with me.  This is a very good day.