Living With Yourself
Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem, most will shake their head in slight disgust at this aphorism. It has become a saying which is allotted with the likes of most clichés. It is quite sad how this powerful phrase has become nothing more than a marketable meaning. It’s mostly used to spur on flippant actions of immaturity, instead of giving motivation to the hard work which is required to truly live.
This phrase is over 2000 years old, yet we have stripped it from all of its true meaning in just a fraction of that time. We have made carpe diem out to be something that is only meant for a day, yet this is why the saying has become nothing more than another phrase to stitch on clothing and print on a plaque.
More than today’s motto
But all is not lost. For those who believe that it is more than a motto for just today, but a motto for life, it will live on. The poet Horace who used this phrase, continued it with “quam minimum credula postero”, which is translated as “put very little trust into tomorrow”. Carpe diem along with this added advice reminds us to make the most of today despite what we plan on doing tomorrow.
To seize the day, you must be present in the day and not look past it just to get to tomorrow. Now most people sadly live by the anti-cliché of “why do today what you can put off till tomorrow.” But at the end of the day, they have done nothing but focus on getting to tomorrow, and in turn make a habit of forgetting about today.
“Take the pins out”
Otis Skinner, a popular stage actor/director during the turn of the 19th century, would tell the nervous players he directed to “take the pins out of your diaphragm, my friend, and start breathing!” Similarly when his daughter, Cornelia Skinner, was going through some tough times as a 23-year-old, paralyzed by the questions in life, he simply told her to “take the pins out of your diaphragm, kid, and start living!”
As humans we walk around in constant worry about making mistakes in life, while all along this worry is the biggest mistake of all. We simply must do what is in our power to act on, and remember that over thinking does nothing more than give power to our doubts and weaknesses.
Between those who foolishly take today for granted, and those who foolishly live today like tomorrow is never coming, lies the proper way to live. Carpe diem is about seizing the day in such a way where you will make a better tomorrow for yourself, and still be happy if it never comes.
“We are always getting ready to live, but never living.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life, keep it simple and live it
Josh