Carpe the Damn Diem — Without the Hurry
I’m sitting on the sandy bank at the lake as I write this.
Nothing particularly important is happening.
The water is doing what water does. Birds are carrying on somewhere nearby. The morning is moving along without asking anything of me.
And I’ve been thinking about two simple words:
USE IT.
Use the morning.
Use my body.
Use my curiosity.
Use what I know.
Use my camera.
Use the opportunities in front of me.
But most of all, use my life.
Not someday.
Today.
Being Fully Inside My Own Life
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be fully inside my own life.
For me, it simply means being there while my life is actually happening.
That sounds ridiculously obvious.
But how often are we physically somewhere beautiful while our minds are somewhere else?
We’re thinking about what needs to be done. What we should have done yesterday. What we're going to do tomorrow. Something we need to fix. Something we want to change.
I certainly do it.
I can sit beside this beautiful lake and still have my mind running around like it has a clipboard and a deadline. 😂
And meanwhile...
THIS is happening.
The water.
The breeze.
The birds.
The light.
My life.
Right here.
A Sunset Doesn't Negotiate
Maybe that's one reason I love sunsets so much.
A sunset doesn't negotiate.
You can't say:
"Beautiful. Hold that pink for another 20 minutes while I finish something."
It doesn't care about your schedule.
The light changes.
The colors fade.
And it's gone.
Photography has taught me that lesson over and over.
Sometimes I photograph the moment.
Sometimes I just watch it.
And I've realized something:
I am not preparing to live later. I am living NOW.
That's a very different way of looking at a day.
USE IT Doesn't Mean Fill It
This part is important.
When I say USE IT, I don't mean cram every waking minute with productivity.
Good grief. We already have enough people telling us to optimize ourselves. 😂
I don't want another list telling me that every minute needs to accomplish something.
Sometimes carpe diem means:
DO THE THING.
Take the road.
Make the photograph.
Start the conversation.
Learn something.
Write the story.
Make the change you've been talking about making.
And sometimes it means:
SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND WATCH THE LAKE.
Both count.
Maybe that's what I'm beginning to understand about living abundantly.
Abundance isn't necessarily having more.
Sometimes it's experiencing more of what you already have.
Stop Preparing to Live
I have goals.
Lots of them.
I want to become stronger. I want to keep learning. I want to improve my photography. I want to meet interesting people. I want to travel, explore Oklahoma roads, tell stories and make a difference.
There is still so much I want to do.
And I love that about myself.
But I don't want my goals to steal today from me.
I don't want to spend my entire life improving myself for some future version of me who finally gets permission to enjoy it.
Don't treat today merely as preparation for tomorrow.
Work toward tomorrow.
Absolutely.
But live today while you're doing it.
Maybe This Is Wellness Too
We hear so much about wellness.
What to eat.
How to exercise.
How much to sleep.
What supplements to take.
All of those things can matter.
But maybe wellness also includes being able to sit quietly somewhere and think:
I'm okay right here.
To notice the warmth of the sun.
To hear a bird.
To laugh with someone you love.
To move your body and appreciate what it can do.
To become curious about something completely useless.
To take a photograph simply because something was beautiful.
To occasionally do absolutely nothing productive and not feel guilty about it.
Maybe part of being well is simply participating in your own life.
Today Is Usable Life
That's what USE IT means to me.
Not hurry.
Not do more.
Not you're running out of time.
Quite the opposite.
It means:
This day is here.
Notice it.
Participate in it.
Use your body.
Use your mind.
Use your curiosity.
Use what you've learned.
Love your people.
Talk to someone.
Go outside.
Make something.
Laugh.
Rest.
Watch the sunset.
And maybe, every once in a while, put the camera down.
Because the photograph isn't always the experience.
The experience is the experience.
I'm sitting here looking across the lake now, and perhaps that's enough for this morning.
Nothing to accomplish.
Nothing to prove.
Just the wonderful realization:
“I'm here. This is my life. And damn… I like being in it.” ❤️
That's Carpe the Damn Diem without the hurry.
And today?
USE IT.
P.S.
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