Carpe Diem

A once-in-a-lifetime chance

This morning, I wrote three different drafts. Impossible to finish any of them. Yesterday, I was wobbling as I wrote. Little inspiration. I published my blog post late. I know it has to be done. So I did.

This morning, the same evil is on the prowl. It whispers, “You’re not inspired. You can wait until tomorrow”.
I’ve started writing about social determinism, AI, philosophy of Carpe Diem... The words don’t click. The text doesn’t flow. I can’t do it.

Triumph of resistance: “I told you you couldn’t do it today.”
But the resistance has broken me too many times to let it win again. 
The resistance doesn’t understand, I’m tired of waiting for tomorrow. 
I know that waiting for tomorrow won’t make today happen.

Over the course of my life, I’ve tried a lot. Different arts, different sports, different adventures. And in all these attempts, two common factors

• There’s always resistance, motivation fades

• Success has always been hidden behind repetition

I think the secret to reaching the heights is to do what you have to do, even when you don’t feel like doing it. Every day is a unique opportunity to add a brick to the life you want to build. Some days, we lay the big bricks. Some days, like this one, we lay a tiny brick. The important thing is to keep on building.

This brings me back to the concept I wanted to explore: Carpe Diem.
Before it was what you put in your bio on dating apps when you’re feeling uninspired, it was words spoken by the poet Horace. 
The deeper meaning of these words is debated by philosophers. 
Different interpretations clash.

One advocates hedonism, that each day is unique and that we must seek pleasure daily without worrying about tomorrow. 
Another associates carp not with Seize but with Pluck. Carpe Diem would become “Pluck the Day.” The day would be associated with a flower. Every day, there’s a unique chance to pick it. You must harvest today, it will be wilted tomorrow.

The metaphor of this second description is elegant. You don’t want to live with the weight of regret. If I wake up tomorrow morning without having written my Sunday post, it’s going to bother me. It would be one of those flowers I’ve left to wilt. And I’ve left far too many to die without picking them up. Today is unique. I can’t relive it. I have to harvest the day while I can. Tomorrow will be dead.

My interpretation of Carpe Diem would not be a search for hedonic pleasures. It’s about taking care to harvest a day that will undeniably fade once the sun goes down. Time flies, whether we like it or not. This day, soon, will be over, forever. We don’t know how many days are left to harvest. There’s an urgency to make the most of the days we have, to enjoy them while we can. 
I’ll harvest today, a new blog post.
I’ll harvest today, a new training session.
But I’ll also harvest other things that are close to my heart. 
Because I dream of a garden. For that garden to be perfect. I still have to harvest lots of different flowers. And I don’t know how much time I have left to pick them.

What kind of garden would you like to build?
What flowers can you pick today?
Think deeply.
There’s only one thing left to do.
Carpe Diem