Smelling Roses

I believe that in todays day and age most of us don’t even know who we are anymore. And that’s a bold claim I know.

We’re so used to going through the motions, constantly connected, constantly plugged in. 10 minute car ride, who’s choosing songs, Me or You?… Awkward silence, I wonder if my email inbox needs checking?… You get the idea. We’re living in such a hyper-connected world, that times to truthfully introspect are hard to come by. Put simply, the romanticism of the grind is (I believe) deeply problematic to finding meaning and purpose in our lives, and believe me I’ve played that game. Oohing at all-nighters, courting caffeine and lamenting gleefully about how you did that term paper at the last possible moment. These are not badges of honor, but rather badges of poor planning.

I want to bring you back to a moment I experienced a few weeks ago while cycling. All alone on a bridge in the woods, I was deeply aware of how very alive I was.

The signals from my vestibular system helping me course correct to remain in balance. The rough and uneven bridge I was going over. The dog which I had to swerve to avoid. A buzzing fly unluckily being swept into my open mouth (gross I know). It’s a weird feeling, to become re-aware of your sense, and try and grapple with just how much we’re experiencing in the moment… just how very alive we really are. This aliveness is being wasted on mindless scrolling, wasted on the romanticism of the grind, wasted on anything spent not truly living.

Ironically, I believe the answer to coming to a realization such as this is to do less not more. Such a feeling could never have manifested itself through competing signals of social media, music, and/or the desire to be constantly plugged in.

This led me to question: When was the last time I truly appreciated a moment, any moment? I’ve tended to view these ephemeral moments in life as just happenstance. For me, I’ve seen moments as no more than stepping stones, atomic bits of time which have no meaning in and of themselves, but rather something that is sacrificed in the pursuit of a dream.

The problem with being hyper results oriented is that the in-between becomes banal - seen as no more than a tool to reach a larger aspiration. I want to try and change that, trying to soak up the feeling of living and appreciating every single moment.

I recently watched Matthew Dicks TED talk titled “Homework for Life” (highly recommend) which I think ties perfectly into this idea. By writing down one memorable moment each day, you can live two lives. Your first experiencing life, and then a second remembering life where you can re-live these moments years later.

You can use any tool really to capture these moments. I like to do them in a simple google doc at the end of the day, spending no more than 5 minutes describing the moment in as much detail as possible.