Carpe Diem!


Dear Reader,

 One very kind correspondent and friend this week sent me a video on the topic of carpe diem - to seize the moment. One particular phrase in it rather stuck out for me. This was:
Yesterday is history - tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift: it is a present!

 I would - in a mystical fashion - add:
Today is also pre-sent!

The whole idea of the present being so important is an essential theme within all the great religious philosophies, particularly in the Indian-sourced religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, but can be found in others too, such as Zoroastrianism and Taoism.

Strangely enough, Christianity and Islam are fairly quiet on the topic - they rely more on scripture rather than philosophy - but the inference is still there.

To put it another way: "what's the use of worrying, you know it ain't worthwhile..."  as the poor Tommies sang on the way to the Western Front over 100 years ago.

And, another homespun bit of philosophy: "you can't change what has passed you by...". Even if you visit an old haunt that you've not visited for many years, it's never the same again in any case.

The fact is - simple isn't it? - that it is what we do right now that will impact what happens in the future. We are given free will to determine the future we want, so - to think about it - perhaps we should examine our hearts right now (the heart is part of the thinking system that is within us) and determine from that what it is we wish to achieve - and keep that as the target through every minute of the day (and the night, if you don't sleep!).

So - unfortunately - if we worry about the future then it is more than likely it is worry that we will get. Do we want that? Of course not.

"Seizing the moment" may be expressed in different ways by different people, but, I would suggest, to obtain the best outcome from COVID-19, we should use the moment to envisage the best possible outcome.

What is yours? Mine would be to change the way we live while we have the opportunity. To revert to more simplicity and preserve and improve upon the huge reduction - some 17% - in the world's air pollution that has been achieved during this pandemic. And, while we are at it, change the way in which we package 'stuff' - to move away from plastic containers. The River Nile cannot take any more! Nor the oceans...

Everyone keeps asking about the economy - will it recover? The answer is that if the effort is put into recovering the economy we did have, then we have a bleak future.

Consume considerately; plan for change; save the Earth and its occupants.

Thank you for reading this.

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