Friday, December 14, 2012

If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run...

I read in the news today that time is running down (or out?), and that one day everything will simply freeze, one moment in time captured in freeze-frame for ever. Wow. What a thought. What would you want to be found doing? What would your last moment catch you at? Watching TV? Working at your day job? Would it be something safe and predictable, or are you more of a risk-taker?

Life is so very short, and yet we have the illusion that it will be as it is forever. It's a useful illusion, though, as it enables us to function on a day-to-day basis without undue depression. Ultimately, though, little of what we do and are will stand the test of time. Given a few generations, even our most precious memories will be forgotten.

I have a photo on my desk at work of the man, Sisyphus, to remind me that even though our days sometimes seem mundane and repetitive, it is a joy to be alive to experience them, and to squeeze whatever happiness can be found in each moment - to fill the unforgiving minute with something of worth.

And, perhaps, we can agree with Camus that "one must imagine Sisyphus happy", so that whatever we are doing, and wherever we are when time stands still, we would be found in a happy place.