Carpe Diem!!

With a moot memorial to write in two days without any idea of international law, this probably doesn't seem to be a good time to write a blog but i just can't help it. Carpe diem is one of my most favourite things, probably one of the best ways to live, and with the word around for the last four days in the form of our college fest, i need to blog to glorify the great concept of carpe diem.

I always tend to relate the specific term 'carpe diem' to the movie 'Dead Poets Society' from where i got to know of the term but the essence of carpe diem is what i always felt and still feel as something necessary to keep me alive or to keep anyone alive. 'Seize the day' as the term literally means, it implies a lot more than that (at least in my perception). Though it means that one should live in the present and utilize and enjoy the present to the fullest and not let future concerns/worries ruin the present, it should not be misunderstood as a careless attitude, rather it is an instant-specific carefree attitude which tells you to not bother about future consequences only when they go to the extent of restraining you from living in the present. It saves people from being what i might like to call 'losers' as it is just when you are about to lose your precious potentially enjoyable present that  carpe diem comes to the rescue! And life seems to be simpler and satisfactory and happy if one is able to extract as much as possible from extractable time i.e. the present rather than whining for the unalterable past or worrying/getting confused for the unprecedented/unpredictible/uncontrollable future. Carpe diem would not, however, mean that you ignore the obvious consequences that lie ahead of the present acts.

An illustration of this was on for the last four days here in college. The essence of carpe diem seemed to be illustrated totally. Over cautiousness took the backseat and despite the moot memorial and project submissions, people participated with all vigour. It was evident how each one of us has talents (which might not be realized or utilized just because of a lethargic or over-cautious attitude) and the best thing that would lead us to utilize those talents was 'carpe diem' (pun unintended!). It indeed is amazing how at one moment you might feel nervous or short of self confidence or  disinterestedly lethargic about doing anything and you think about carpe diem and simply go into everything with focus and concentration. But all this to prevent the loss of present. 

Therefore, it again appears how living in the present and enjoying it makes life worth living and the only reason why people get over cautious and start worrying about future is that they lack the confidence and self trust to face any future developments. Future remains as mysterious and unexpected as it is and the only difference that exists is that whether you reach your future by enjoying the present and extracting as much from it as possible or by sacrificing excessively those resources of the present to reach the future which could have been enjoyed/utilized and still the same future could have been reached.

So the bottom line reads that carpe diem is something which when correctly understood, makes life 'life' but for that one needs to be self-confident about facing anything that future has to offer and should have enough self control and prudence to practise carpe diem only for the benign/enjoyable things which might be sacrificed due to over cautiousness and excessive concern about the future and not for those things/activities which have prima facie consequences to the detriment which could not be even justified. Thus, a present-centric concept of carpe diem needs to be combined with prudence but at the end of the day, it will serve no purpose if the present gets wasted. So finally here's a post about my favourite approach - 'Carpe Diem'!!