Just One Day
First, I have to get something off my chest. People who snap their fingers to music are idiots. Unless you are a band leader counting off a song before it starts, you have no reason to snap. Just sayin.
Second, I watched Groundhog Day for the first time in a while. And it got me to thinking: what would I do if I only had one day for the rest of my life? Obviously, I wouldn't be able to really travel too much. Maybe a little. I'd learn languages. Whatever ones I could get my hands and ears and tongue wrapped around. I'd read all the books I own. And then all the ones in the library. I realized that Facebook and the internet would become pointless because it would be the same stuff every day. Before long, I'd be bored with whatever got posted. There is a part of me that would say I'd try to help people, but what's the point? I only have one day. You could maybe save a life, but that's about it. I'd become a better cook. Learn how to cook all sorts of good stuff. I might do some serious drugs, just to see what it's like. I'd watch a ton of movies. Whatever I could get my hands on. I'd go sailing. Rent a helicopter. Learn how to scuba dive. And so on.
And then I starting thinking about how irrelevant time is. Yes, I understand the idea of consequences, but if we didn't spend so much time worrying about time, would we get more things accomplished? If we didn't worry about getting ready for tomorrow, would we be able to get things done? It seems like it, but at the same time, one day isn't really that much time. A week, yes. But a week has consequences. A day has none. So you get everything and nothing all in one.
At the same time, I guess there's a lot of things we don't do because they take so much time to accomplish. Namely learning languages and reading books. Languages especially take oodles of time. Learning in general takes time, and we don't want to spend all that time doing that one thing. We have priorities. The thing about only having one day, is that suddenly nothing matters except for you. Money is irrelevant, the rest of the world is irrelevant. To a degree, even sex becomes irrelevant. You can't take any of that with you. The only thing that ever lasts is what's inside you. What you learn. What you know. What you remember.
Anyway, it starts an existential back and forth that seems difficult to untangle, but it's still worth thinking about.
Second, I watched Groundhog Day for the first time in a while. And it got me to thinking: what would I do if I only had one day for the rest of my life? Obviously, I wouldn't be able to really travel too much. Maybe a little. I'd learn languages. Whatever ones I could get my hands and ears and tongue wrapped around. I'd read all the books I own. And then all the ones in the library. I realized that Facebook and the internet would become pointless because it would be the same stuff every day. Before long, I'd be bored with whatever got posted. There is a part of me that would say I'd try to help people, but what's the point? I only have one day. You could maybe save a life, but that's about it. I'd become a better cook. Learn how to cook all sorts of good stuff. I might do some serious drugs, just to see what it's like. I'd watch a ton of movies. Whatever I could get my hands on. I'd go sailing. Rent a helicopter. Learn how to scuba dive. And so on.
And then I starting thinking about how irrelevant time is. Yes, I understand the idea of consequences, but if we didn't spend so much time worrying about time, would we get more things accomplished? If we didn't worry about getting ready for tomorrow, would we be able to get things done? It seems like it, but at the same time, one day isn't really that much time. A week, yes. But a week has consequences. A day has none. So you get everything and nothing all in one.
At the same time, I guess there's a lot of things we don't do because they take so much time to accomplish. Namely learning languages and reading books. Languages especially take oodles of time. Learning in general takes time, and we don't want to spend all that time doing that one thing. We have priorities. The thing about only having one day, is that suddenly nothing matters except for you. Money is irrelevant, the rest of the world is irrelevant. To a degree, even sex becomes irrelevant. You can't take any of that with you. The only thing that ever lasts is what's inside you. What you learn. What you know. What you remember.
Anyway, it starts an existential back and forth that seems difficult to untangle, but it's still worth thinking about.
posted by Ocean | 1:40 AM
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