Self

We just don't take enough time to see the beauty around us. I admit that I stumble through life, ignoring many things that could enrich my life. Every day, I wake up and interact. I have conversations. I read what others have written. I listen to what others sing. I look at what others have created. I eat what others cook. But, I don’t always listen. I don’t always see and I don’t always savor the flavor.

When you read a book or hear someone speak, you should be trying to grasp more than just the dialogue. For example, there is pleasure, call it satisfaction, from hearing a well-turned sentence. I mean, if someone made the effort to craft a phrase or paragraph that describes a feeling or sensation so precisely and perfectly that it affects you viscerally, you should take it into your consciousness and make it part of you. I’m sure you’ve done it plenty of times unconsciously, but do you try to find it in every book, every lyric? If you’re like me, you let too much fall through your mental sieve.

How much richer would my life be if I could have more sights, more tastes, more feelings to recall? I’ve stored a trove of memories; snippets of movie dialogue, smells of the kitchen when I was growing up, my first taste of beer. You know, the highlights. The thing is, I wish there were more. It’s not that the years have gone by so quickly, it’s that they went by without me noticing them. The point is that we shouldn’t wait until middle age to understand this. Start now. Go out and drink it in now. Don’t just save the highlights. Feel everything.