Today in class, we watched a video that really stood out to me. It was a video that was simply titled "Moments". The artistic piece consisted of a montage of seemingly random clips, where each one showed a brief moment in someone's life. The clips varied from mundane tasks like an old woman eating cereal to simple pleasures of life like a man casting his rod into the lagoon. Meanwhile, the entire collaboration was accompanied by and edited to the rhythm of a serene soundtrack. Although our class focused more on the artistic and poetic aspects of the video, it wasn't the emotional crescendo or the expertly placed transitions that grabbed my attention. These artistic aspects only amplified the "real deal breaker". In fact, the message of the video is what caused me to take such interest in the topic. In a mere four minutes and seventeen seconds, the video exclaimed the beauty of the current moment; the beauty of the present.
If the present is as enticing and interesting as the video suggests, then why does society disregard the current moment? It is a shame that people are completely unaware of the beauty of now. I am also at fault. As I reflect upon my life, there has never been a moment in my life when I noticed the poetic and wonderful nature of showering, taking a walk, or riding shotgun in my brother's car. As ridiculous as that sounds, it is a damn shame. People, myself included, only tend to inquire into the future and reflect on the past. The shower is a preparation for the day to come, the walk is about getting to school on time, and the car ride is fast way to the Chipotle that will satisfy the deprived stomach. Society has become obsessed with the hurried mindset, and there is no room for the present in that limiting frame.
From the day a person is born, society begins to craft and shape his/her mind to adapt the hurried mindset. I was looking to the future for as long as I can remember. In fact, I had foreseen my life plan since I was six years old. It was to do well in school, graduate elementary school, ace classes in middle school, move on to high school, score insanely well on the ACT's and SAT's, get accepted into an impressive university, graduate with a degree in something worth it, find a job, find a wife, buy a home, raise a family, retire, and die. Sounds fickle, doesn't it? So far, every step of the way, I had looked on to the next step in this grand plan, just as everyone else does in this faulty system. There is no reason why this should continue. This mindset of always looking ahead makes no sense to me, but it is so prevalent in my life and in the lives of others.
What is so appealing about the future and the past that trumps the necessity of embracing the present? I couldn't tell you even if my life depended on it. That is because the present is much more relevant than the future or past. The past are events that have happened, and there is no reason to be constantly worrying about events that can never be changed. On the other hand, the future is completely unknown. One cannot predict how his life will twist and turn to change the outcome. The best thing someone can do is to live in the moment. The focus should be on riding those twists and turns and actually observing the life that actually matters: the life that you are living right now. The video "Moments" really made that register in my head. I hope that everyone will learn that if you want to see life's best moments, just take the time to look around.
This post definitely epitomizes one of the greatest flaws of society - we are so concentrated on that which we cannot change and that which we have yet to regret, we miss perhaps the greatest moments of life. I too plead guilty; I do not truly observe the present around me enough. Consequently, this leads me to believe that life is utterly boring and lackluster, which could not be further from the truth. If we take the time to really just look at what's around us, we capture some of the best parts of life; those which we would never normally acknowledge. I agree with you wholeheartedly. We've been taught our whole existence to look ahead and focus on the future. While although that might sound somewhat inspirational and a great motto to tell yourself once in a while, this thought is much too prevalent. As a sucker for quotes, I must reference the legend John Lennon who said, "Life's what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." This is one of my favorites because it forces me stop and evaluate what I have been missing around me. During all the time I've wasted worrying and stressing over the most insignificant things that I believe to be so significant, I've lost all those completely significant moments that seemingly aren't at all. Life truly is a song composed of little moments, and those we take for granted equate with an incomplete, unfulfilled work of art.
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