Just in Case You Forgot
Posted by Tom Villalobos
Time is an abstract creation of the mind. It is a consensual limitation of liberation, for though it is exceptionally useful in the organization of past, present, and future events, it detracts significance from the present, which is really the only moment in life one can acknowledge being alive. The past and future only exist as we imagine them. They are mere templates of things which supposedly happened, or which will supposedly happen.
Tomorrow, I will go to work at 10am, get out at 6pm, have dinner with my friend Emma, and she and I will begin a road trip to Florida. The more I plan these events, the more aspects of their conditions form in my mind. I will need to fill up the gas tank. I will have some kind of brunch (most likely). I will check my email at work, etc. The fact is I really have no idea exactly what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know what first thought will enter my mind when I wake up. I have no precise idea what my orange juice will taste like washing out the film of morning breath. I don’t know who the attendant at the gas station will be, nor do I know how strong the wind will blow in my face as I cherish the fumes of gasoline.
Think of a particularly impressionable past event, which you personally experienced with someone close to you. Remember every minute detail possible, every single thing, which was happening to the both of you at that time. Make a list of these things, and then compare your list to your accomplice, and realize that no two experiences will ever be the same. Ever. The past only exists as however much we take away from it in our mind, or with recording devices. No matter how precise one experiences and records that moment, it will never exist as precisely as it did right then and there. The only time that we are truly experiencing anything is the moment is it actually being experienced. The present moment is the only moment we are alive. Everything else is symbolic interpretation and abstract reasoning. To place too much emphasis on anything but the present moment is to place too much focus on the abstract. To wrap this up, these are the definitions of abstract, as found in an online dictionary.
ab·stract adj.
1. Considered apart from concrete existence:
2. Not applied or practical; theoretical.
3. Difficult to understand;
4. Thought of or stated without reference to a specific instance:
5. Impersonal, as in attitude or views.
Shall I choose to acknowledge my existence in life for everything it is in the moment? Or shall I choose to live as I dream, meaning entirely in my head?
“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time”.
Time is an abstract creation of the mind. It is a consensual limitation of liberation, for though it is exceptionally useful in the organization of past, present, and future events, it detracts significance from the present, which is really the only moment in life one can acknowledge being alive. The past and future only exist as we imagine them. They are mere templates of things which supposedly happened, or which will supposedly happen.
Tomorrow, I will go to work at 10am, get out at 6pm, have dinner with my friend Emma, and she and I will begin a road trip to Florida. The more I plan these events, the more aspects of their conditions form in my mind. I will need to fill up the gas tank. I will have some kind of brunch (most likely). I will check my email at work, etc. The fact is I really have no idea exactly what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know what first thought will enter my mind when I wake up. I have no precise idea what my orange juice will taste like washing out the film of morning breath. I don’t know who the attendant at the gas station will be, nor do I know how strong the wind will blow in my face as I cherish the fumes of gasoline.
Think of a particularly impressionable past event, which you personally experienced with someone close to you. Remember every minute detail possible, every single thing, which was happening to the both of you at that time. Make a list of these things, and then compare your list to your accomplice, and realize that no two experiences will ever be the same. Ever. The past only exists as however much we take away from it in our mind, or with recording devices. No matter how precise one experiences and records that moment, it will never exist as precisely as it did right then and there. The only time that we are truly experiencing anything is the moment is it actually being experienced. The present moment is the only moment we are alive. Everything else is symbolic interpretation and abstract reasoning. To place too much emphasis on anything but the present moment is to place too much focus on the abstract. To wrap this up, these are the definitions of abstract, as found in an online dictionary.
ab·stract adj.
1. Considered apart from concrete existence:
2. Not applied or practical; theoretical.
3. Difficult to understand;
4. Thought of or stated without reference to a specific instance:
5. Impersonal, as in attitude or views.
Shall I choose to acknowledge my existence in life for everything it is in the moment? Or shall I choose to live as I dream, meaning entirely in my head?
“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time”.
This entry was posted by Ben Myers, on
Thursday, May 25, 2006.
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9:01 AM
"I don’t know who the attendant at the gas station will be, nor do I know how strong the wind will blow in my face as I cherish the fumes of gasoline."
That's a pretty sick segue to the rest of your piece... Gas does smell good, doesn't it.