An Essay

An Essay  by Diane Hanley 8/31/22

None of us can predict the future.  We can only hope our choices now will prove correct as the future unfolds before us.  I loved Blockbuster.  It was fun browsing their shelves for just the right movie, like browsing the Hallmark store or aisle for just the right card.  Part of the fun was in the search.

Then I learned about Netflix.  I could do my searching on line by genres or actors or by just entering part of a title, and the movie would appear in my mailbox.  Some fun lost, but so convenient.  Then in 2007, Netflix began streaming and it was also the year that stocks dropped.  I bought Netflix then (and quite a few others), to add to my Apple stock.  Who knew what they would all do, though here we are again in a depressed stock market, watching what we own decrease in value.  I’m not selling. 

We can’t predict the future, but it’s welcome when good things happen.  The last few years have been challenging.  Yet, we are daily tempted to believe that we are in control of our lives or most of it, but are we really?  Perhaps we should live only in the present.  Roman Poet Horace first coined the phrase, Carpe Diem in 23 BC.  It is translated as, “Seize the day!” It really meant “Pluck the day” in Latin, and was meant to encourage people to make the most of the present AND to give little thought to the future.  It urges us to enjoy the pleasures of the moment while we still have the chance.  That sounds like a good motto, especially for older people, doesn’t it?

Social media has added a few similar: YOLO, “You Only Live Once”—make the most of your time left on this earth; or FOMO, “Fear Of Missing Out”—best to take risks and live life to the fullest.  All these remind us of our mortality, and that we have “only one life to live.”

There is another old acronym stuck in my head from when I learned to drive:  SIPDE:  Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide and Execute.  We were to scan the road, identify hazards, predict what the hazards might do, decide how we should respond and then, if necessary, execute the correct plan.  It was a strategy that would help us avoid accidents and keep us safe. The question I immediately asked, “How do we know the correct plan?”

So, in contemplating the last 2-3 years of life in this present world, where we seem threatened from every side, we wonder what is the best way to live…  Science tells us it takes 20 minutes for our brains and bodies to calm down after any threat (or a heightened state of alert).  It seems lately that by the time our brain and body calm down from one threatening alert, we get something else thrown at us.  These spikes of stress hormones can create both physical and mental health issues, even affecting our sleep and eating habits.  

So what are we to do?  How do we live in the moment, when our moments can be so stressful or sad or sickening?  How do we scan, predict or execute plans in the moment when there are so many hazards and no perfect solutions?  How do we know what the future holds or how to act now to make it better eventually?  

My answer, may not be your answer.  There are many suggested strategies from all kinds of experts.  We DO have to acknowledge that we are connected to our present world, BUT we can also learn to be disconnected from it.  I for one, don’t watch the news, immerse myself in social media or read every news item that comes into my inbox.  The English have a very appropriate parting phrase, “Mind how you go…”  It means take care or be careful how you do something; pay attention; be wise.  I say that is good advise in how we live, as well.  We need to be mindful of what we see, what we listen to and how we act.  

I have decided to coin a new phrase:  “Carpe Zoe”, also Latin, meaning “Seize Life.”  The Romans had three words for LIFE, unlike our one.  The first was “bios,” meaning physical or bodily life, from which we we get our word, biology.  The second Latin word is “psuche,” meaning soul, thinking or mind life, from which we get our word psychology.  “Zoe” life means life now and eternally; “Zoe” denotes the divine spiritual life, not just the mind or body life.  I, for one, want to have that spiritual heavenly perspective on life, not living just for the moment but rather thinking, saying and doing things that have both a present and a future meaningful outcome, and not just for me, but for and with all those I interact!  I want to be a person of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Will I be perfect in my striving?  Not likely, but I CAN spend the rest of this life trying, believing there is a better life to come.  It sure seems better than seizing only this day in this chaotic world around me.  It definitely seems better than trying to predict the future or taking risks or believing I am fully in control.  It seems sensible and sensitive and stimulating.  Carpe Zoe!  Seize Life!!